September 2009
Hello Kangaroo Valley!
Contrary to popular belief, I haven't yet shuffled off this mortal coil, although I have been quite unwell, with some hurdles still ahead and this has distracted me from regular columns.
Nonetheless, Medical Musts and Mentions rises from the ashes and in time for Spring, whats more!!
Hopefully after a short period we'll settle into some warm,stable weather and Winter will be banished for another year.
But will the flu be banished with it?
Well, ordinary garden variety flu-yes.
Swine flu,probably not.
Both types of flu are now on the wane but experts were saying that when the incidence was at its highest,there were probably more cases of swine flu than ordinary flu.
Swine flu has now been detected in some birds (chickens) and there are concerns that it could somehow combine with bird flu, itself a potentially lethal illness when passed to humans and give rise to a 'super-flu' with dire consequences.
I've no doubt that as our sophisticated,modern society pushes deeper into areas of the globe we've never penetrated before,more and newer viruses,bacteria and parasites will present greater challenges to us.
Will we be able to meet them?
I read the other day that Ebola virus, the cause of a rapidly fatal haemorrhagic fever and previously passed only from chimps to humans, or human to human, has now been found in pigs!
But we shouldn't panic. The swine flu pandemic has made us all focus on something we should never have taken our eyes from-simple, basic, personal hygiene!
Use tissues and dispose of them appropriately.
Cover your mouth or nose when you cough or sneeze.
If you have the flu,or think you have,stay at home for three days.
Don't be a tough guy (or girl) and soldier on-all you'll do is spread it around.
If you're very ill with it,
see your doctor and get some Tamiflu or Relenza.
Remember hand washing.
According to latest reports,an effective swine flu vaccine should soon be available.
Consider it and discuss it with your doctor.
And if you didn't have the flu vaccine this year, consider it next year.
Remember,we live in a small community here and it behoves us to think not only of our own health, but also of the health of the community as a whole and how the two interact and believe me, they certainly do.
Finally, I do hope to be more available in the coming months than I have been in recent months but I ask your understanding if at times that just can't be.
Doctor Bob in the Valley
Doctor R. L. (Bob) Sims MB, BS