Swine Flu

[Ally]

Does anyone have any recent info on this? Had a lady and her daughter come in on saturday were i locum with precriptions for Tamiflu.

As far as i was concerned, anybody suspect is to stay at home and contact their doctor who will arrange testing and medication. Patients are also told to stay at home in quarentine for several days.

I do know that camenden coucil are allowing some Boots store to give out the medication. Can anybody update me?

Also are there any procedures in place if a pharmacist gets swine flu? Staff and patients would be at risk.

[johnep]

All supplies of Tamiflu held by authorities. Will only be issued on diagnosed cases.
johnep

[DavidS]

are there any procedures in place if a pharmacist gets swine flu?

There will be an SF SOP somewhere, no doubt. And no-one will be keeping to it, least of all, the virus.

[Nik]

We had a young guy come in a couple of weeks ago with a script for Tamiflu as well. I was also under the impression that patient should stay at home instead of leaving the house and risk spreading the virus. Fortunately I have not been feeling ill although it has affected a HCA at the shop who's taking leave.

[Rafael]

15 cases of swine flu were diagonised at uni, patients were treated with swine flu anyone who came in DIRECT contact was treated as well (housemate, bf/gf, family members...etc).
housemates were asked to leave the house for 10 days, only then the virus will no longer infectious.

not sure how true it is, i've been told by this girl on saturday open day at uni, she can't wait to go back to her house and currently staying at one of her mates.

[shan]

Does anyone have any recent info on this? Had a lady and her daughter come in on saturday were i locum with precriptions for Tamiflu.

As far as i was concerned, anybody suspect is to stay at home and contact their doctor who will arrange testing and medication. Patients are also told to stay at home in quarentine for several days.

I do know that camenden coucil are allowing some Boots store to give out the medication. Can anybody update me?

Also are there any procedures in place if a pharmacist gets swine flu? Staff and patients would be at risk.

Is this of any help ?????

RPSGB.org: Swine flu

Shan

[inholms]

In the absence of finding any good forums on this subject, I found and joined your site in the hope of reading some useful information. What I found was mainly the typical childish banter you get on other forums.

I would have thought you could have done better on such a serious subject.

In the hope that some professional grown up people read this forum, can anyone please answer the following questions;

(1) If you catch the current strain, can you catch it again?
(2) If you catch the current strain do you have any protection against the next mutation?
(3) What are the side effects of Tamiflu? Are there serious complications?
(4) What is happening in other countries? How many people have died in France, Germany etc?
(5) Did all the people in Mexico really die from Swine Flu or was that a mistake?
(6) Are they still dying in Mexico?
(7) If no, how and why did it stop?

[Nik]

In the absence of finding any good forums on this subject, I found and joined your site in the hope of reading some useful information. What I found was mainly the typical childish banter you get on other forums.

I would have thought you could have done better on such a serious subject.

In the hope that some professional grown up people read this forum, can anyone please answer the following questions;

(1) If you catch the current strain, can you catch it again?
(2) If you catch the current strain do you have any protection against the next mutation?
(3) What are the side effects of Tamiflu? Are there serious complications?
(4) What is happening in other countries? How many people have died in France, Germany etc?
(5) Did all the people in Mexico really die from Swine Flu or was that a mistake?
(6) Are they still dying in Mexico?
(7) If no, how and why did it stop?

What exactly do you mean by childish banter ?

The "H1N1" refers to the presence of two proteins on the surface of Influenza virus A (haemagglutinin and neuraminidase). The structure of these proteins can change as it mutates resulting in many different strains of H1N1 which we will then not be fully immune to. Part of the problem with swine flu is that it is unique in that the genes that code for some of the structural proteins are a mix of avian, swine and human in origin.

3) Side effects are generally mild and can include nausea/vomiting, headache and diarrhoea.
4) BBC NEWS | UK | Swine flu: Country by country but its a week old.
5) Yes of course they did - the virulence of a particular strain also depends upon who is infected, environmental conditions, etc.

[Pharmanaut]

What exactly do you mean by childish banter ?

The "H1N1" refers to the presence of two proteins on the surface of Influenza virus A (haemagglutinin and neuraminidase). The structure of these proteins can change as it mutates resulting in many different strains of H1N1 which we will then not be fully immune to. Part of the problem with swine flu is that it is unique in that the genes that code for some of the structural proteins are a mix of avian, swine and human in origin.

3) Side effects are generally mild and can include nausea/vomiting, headache and diarrhoea.
4) BBC NEWS | UK | Swine flu: Country by country but its a week old.
5) Yes of course they did - the virulence of a particular strain also depends upon who is infected, environmental conditions, etc.

Probably panic mongering by people trying to sell stuff.
You would get the anti-virals free from the national stockpile.
Best defence is the government guidelines.
The virus spreads by 'droplet'. This is small particles suspended in the air or deposited on surfaces. Hence the catch it, bin it, kill it posters.

The vaccine might be ready to help with the second/third waves, provided it doesn't mutate.

Good luck everyone!

[inholms]

Thank you
This is much more helpful and of a professional standard one would expect from your profession. I had hoped to find many more contributors at this site as I believe we need to share our knowledge in much more detail. Currently most of the information is given by the Government, and if that’s all there is between us and Swine flu then Lord help us!

I have a few more questions;
(1) Is the method of spread actually known? Is it definitely by inhalation and or by contact?
(2) If you extrapolate the Mexico figures from April (70 deaths), the figure today would be about 3,000. This has not been reported. In fact the figure in the BBC link is 119. Why?
(3) I have read that taking large doses of vitamin D may help prevent complications. Does anyone agree with this.
(4) What can I do to ensure my family avoid catching this virus?