Saturday November 28, 2009

Getting flu-proof

Sambal On The Side
By BRENDA BENEDICT

With so much hype and information surrounding H1N1, the next best thing is to have an enlightening chat with your doctor and invest in a new ‘friend’.

I have a new best friend: a bottle of hand sanitiser.

It comes with me everywhere and I do not use it sparingly. Sure I sometimes smell like a walking hospital but I’d rather that, than lie in one.

I know, it sounds a tad over the top but if you were subjected to a daily dose of swine flu-related headlines, you’d start taking precautions too. Not that we do not already know that simple, basic hygiene is the best solution to most health issues — including any form of flu. But with the start of winter officially heralding the traditional flu season, I do not foresee abatement in the media frenzy surrounding the current H1N1 flu that’s got everyone in a flap.

Till now, I had intermittently followed the flu’s development and the subsequent panic it has caused. From its discovery to its rebranding from swine to Mexican to H1N1. (Although here in Germany, it is still widely called Schweinegrippe – I guess translating that would be redundant).

Then there was that brief furore when news leaked that there were two classes of H1N1 flu vaccines for Germany’s proposed mass vaccination programme. Politicians, civil servants and military personnel were scheduled to receive one with supposedly fewer side effects, while the general population would have received another version.

Damage control was immediate and the explanation was that the “superior” vaccines were ordered months before the planned mass vaccination. And supposedly at the time the order was placed, no clear differences were detected between the two vaccines.

This was, however, quickly overshadowed by the even bigger and ongoing debate as to whether healthy people need to be vaccinated at all. When reports of the planned mass vaccination first began, Wolf-Dieter Ludwig, chairman of the Drug Commission of the German Medical Association, called it a “scandal” saying “the health authorities have fallen for a campaign from the pharmaceutical companies, who simply want to earn money with an alleged threat.”

It would appear that some of his countrymen concur. A recent poll conducted by Infratest dimap, reported that the number of Germans who ‘‘do not intend to take the swine flu jab under any circumstances’’ has increased from 39% in mid-October to 43% in November. Only 14% said that they were ‘‘highly likely to get the swine flu jab’’, with 11% said they would ‘‘definitely get the jab’’.

And so, exposed to this barrage of information and counter-information, we distance ourselves from The Sniffers or The Coughers in crowded trains, supermarkets or any public area.

Football fans heave a sigh of relief as national striker, Miroslav Klose, is cleared of the H1N1 quarantine he was under after his twin sons were infected. We hold hands when we recite the ‘‘Our Father’’ in church hoping to God that the brother or the sister beside us is in the pink of health.

Ongoing campaigns illustrate the right way to sneeze — by burying your nose in the crook of your elbow. And some organisations even issue memos advising employees to avoid shaking hands until the problem blows over.

Having had enough of headlines and talk shows that further confound the ‘‘to jab or not to jab’’ poser, we decided to consult our family doctor.

“I feel like a vet!”

This was the exasperated response we received upon greeting him. His exclamation certainly lightened the atmosphere. He then wryly continued, “First bird flu, then swine flu! And you know it had to be swine. It sounds more ominous than say, hamster flu right?” Thus began our consultation.

He gave us a thorough explanation of the flu’s workings, its different phases and more importantly, how much remains unclear about the flu itself and the jab that supposedly stalls it.

He was clearly agitated by media reports that often skim the surface of reported deaths or infections without considering the existing health status of the victims. And that easily pins everything on health’s latest bogeyman.

Now, in no way did he downplay the possible severity of this flu. However, it would be treated like any other flu at its onset and a patient’s progress or decline will then be closely monitored. In grave cases, the jab makes sense. Otherwise the doctor clearly subscribes to the ‘‘prevention is better than cure’’ school of thought.

His simple prescription? Eat lots of fruit and vegetables, drink plenty of fluids, exercise and avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unclean hands.

And the most important mantra: ‘‘Keep washing your hands.’’

As we rose to leave, I gestured to my bottle of hand sanitiser and he gave me two thumbs up.

I guess that was all the blessing I needed for my new-found friendship.

Brenda Benedict is a Malaysian living in Frankfurt. She is a preferred customer at the local pharmacy.

Sources: www.spiegel.de and http://theflucase.com