Being A Suspected H1N1 Flu Patient for 7 Days

A few days ago, one of my friends had mentioned about the H1N1 Flu. I then have recalled my 7 days of being a suspected H1N1 flu patient in last year. I would like to share with you all now as it really was a scary time for me.

I bet you all have known what is H1N1 Flu. It is also called Swine Flu and it is an infection caused by virus. People do not normally get swine flu but human infections can and do happen. The virus is contagious and can be spread from human to human. The symptoms of the flu are similar to the human regular flu, which include, fever, cough, sore throat, body aching, headaches, chills and fatigue.

In August 2009, I was having high fever and coughing (also on the medication of pulmonary tuberculosis), I was being suspected to get infected H1N1 flu by the doctor. The other reason was that I was also one of the person from the high risk group of people, ie. :

1. Children younger than 5 year-old
2. Senior citizens age 65 and above
3. People with chronic lung or heart conditions
4. Pregnant woman
5. People with obesity

Anyway, I was sent to the Emergency Unit of the UMMC for admission and I had been waited for 5 hours for the check-up and admission. I guess if I were the patient of the H1N1 flu at that time, the crowd had been infected by me and the doctor of the ER also did not take note of my case even I was having the letter from the doctor that I was a suspected H1N1 flu.

Anyway, I was then admitted in the quarantined ward for a night and my family was prohibited to enter such ward. I was having throat swab test and chest x-ray. But the result of the throat swab would only be released a week later. In the quarantined ward, I saw there were many patients there, they have old people, babies, young kid. I got to talk to some of the lady patients, they admitted due to they are asthma or high blood pressure patients. All the nurses were wearing 2 layers of mask for protection, but they were friendly. I could not sleep for that night and was very sad and wondered how could this happen to me!

Luckily, I got discharged on the next day but the doctor required me to have self quarantined at home and I also required to take 2 doses of Tamiflu for 5 continuous days, and returned to the hospital for the result after a week time. I can tell you that, during that 1 whole week, my mother and I were worried so much.

During that 1 week of waiting time, I was so frightened that my result would be positive. I could not eat well or sleep well. My friend gave me a call to comfort me after she found out my incident. She told me not to worry as she also experienced before, her result was negative. I was quite reliefed a bit after talking to her, but honestly, I was still very frightened for the result as there were quite a number of people have lost their lifes due to such flu. Thus, I prepared all the things at that time. I took out all my insurance policies, bank passbooks and FD statements and put at a place which was easy for my mother to search for. I did not tell her about it as I did not want to upset her. Moreover, I was also praying to the Gods everyday for my result would be negative. It really suffered me very much! :(

I went to the UMMC for my check-up and the throat swab result after 1 week time. I was shivering while waiting for my turn. When my name being called, I went to the room to see the doctor. It was a Malay lady doctor, she told me my result was negative and I was glad to hear it and she also felt happy for me. She then told me that I did not need to worry anymore. After I left the hospital, I sent the SMS to my friend to inform her the good news and she was happy for me too. So, it was really a reliefed for me and my mother.

So, this is my frightened 7 days of being the suspected of H1N1 Flu patient experience. I would like to advice the people out there, please take the vaccination for the prevention of flu, as it is no harm to you. Now that I know there is a new influenza called NDM-1, the new swine flu. NDM-1 (New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase 1) is originated from bacteria. It is dangerous and transmitted from person-to-person from direct contact or infected persons exposed materials, specially person admitted to hospitals, clinics, health care centers, etc.. A piece of advice, please do take good care of your health. If you are not feeling well, please seek for the treatment at once. Health is the most important asset in our life. Cheers!