So what is the total number of cases in Singapore currently?
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H1N1 cases in Singapore
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The more cases you test, the more cases you find.
I read a report stating there has been over a million people who had H1N1 in the US--- way, way, way more than the officially confirmed cases.
Now here in Sydney, NSW, the health dept is discouraging the testing of people with flu like illnesses.
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[QUOTE=hsf;97481]The more cases you test, the more cases you find.
QUOTE]
I agree with that.
And I don't think it's beneficial (or possible) to test everyone with flu-like symptoms.
Maybe we should just do targeted testing (eg pregnant women, the elderly or young children) and treat with Tamiflu if positive.J. my own dear wife J.
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They're have 'Swine Flu Parties' here ??!!
I always knew my country was bonkers...and now it's official :
Throwing "swine flu parties" in an attempt to get immunity against the virus while it is a fairly mild form is not a good idea, doctors say.
Reports have emerged of people intentionally mixing with friends who have flu.
Their reasoning is that it is best to be infected before the winter when the virus could become more deadly.
But public health expert Dr Richard Jarvis said such behaviour could undermine the fight against swine flu.
He also stressed while it was a mild flu, people would still be putting their health and the health of their children at risk.
Dr Jarvis, chairman of the British Medical Association's public health committee, has been working for the Health Protection Agency in the north west to help test, diagnose and treat people who have got swine flu.
He said: "I have heard of reports of people throwing swine flu parties.
"I don't think it is a good idea. I would not want it myself.
"It is quite a mild virus, but people still get ill and there is a risk of mortality."
Health service pressure
Dr Jarvis, who was speaking in his BMA capacity at the union's conference in Liverpool, admitted getting the virus now was likely to give people immunity even if it mutated slightly to become more virulent.
Going out to try to get the virus will just aid its spread, Dr Richard Jarvis, BMA.
But he added that if people actively sought to get flu, health services may not be able to act in the same way as they are doing now.
The approach to date - although it is changing in the areas such as Birmingham and London which have the largest outbreaks - has been based on containment.
This has involved close monitoring of flu patients and giving their close contacts drugs to try to prevent the virus developing.
Dr Jarvis said: "If we get to the point where containment is not possible we will not be able to monitor cases as closely or get anti-virals out as quickly. Will we consider it a mild virus then?
"The response so far has been superb. We have contained better than we expected and that has given us time. We are getting closer to a vaccine and we want that to continue.
"Going out to try to get the virus will just aid its spread."
Burnout risk
Dr Jarvis also warned that public health doctors like himself were risking burnout because of the long hours they were putting in on the front-line of the fight against flu.
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I have to admit, the thought did cross my mind. It's like those chickenpox parties I hear about. Get it over and done with and build up immunity.
But since viruses are always mutating, I have convinced myself that deliberately going about to acquire an infection now would be a futile exercise.
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