Swine flu
Looking back to 2009 to see what was happening then, I read that Barry had had a routine blood test. When he ‘phoned the surgery for the results, he was told that the laboratory had lost them, so he was asked to give another sample.
He duly presented himself early one morning for a fasting blood test. He noticed that the nurse appeared to have drawn less blood than previously but said nothing. A matter of days later, the surgery ‘phoned, full of apologies, because not enough blood had been siphoned off for all the necessary tests to be conducted. They asked if it would be possible for him to attend the next morning.
Barry demurred, explaining that he had been feeling unwell for a couple of days. The receptionist asked him to describe his symptoms and then advised him to contact the NHS help line. After a short conversation, he was told that he had swine flu, to remain in bed, take paracetamol and drink plenty of fluids. Telephone consultations and subsequent diagnoses are not always successful!
Swine flu is usually contracted by pig farm workers and vets and is rarely passed between humans. It cannot be contracted through eating pork. Barry had never had any contact with pigs.
How he came to contract swine flu, if he did, and I have my doubts, is a subject for much mirth. There was a swine flu pandemic in 2009 caused by the H1N1 strain which is now a normal seasonal flu that circulates in humans every winter.
The symptoms for swine flu are very easily mistaken for other strains of flu as they are almost identical. They all cause fever, cough, sore throat, headache, aching limbs and fatigue.
Flu can persist for ten to fourteen days and there is a lot of ‘gastro-intestinal disturbance’ with it, which is a feature of swine flu.
Happy days! I’m very careful not to call him a pig – at least, not too often.
