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Passengers Cheat Flu Scan With Fever Reducers
Nguyen Van Chau, head of Ho Chi Minh City's Health Department, has revealed that many sick passengers who flew to Ho Chi Minh City used fever reducers to fool temperature scanners at the airport. The government has confirmed 26 people infected with H1N1 flu, 23 of whom came by air after traveling in the United States or Australia. State media reports that the discovery of these scanner cheaters led to the detection of several infected cases later.
Once swine flu or H1N1 is mentioned all logic and reason goes out the window. Didn't you know that?
.. who are taking 'fever reducers' are not cheating as they have no way of knowing whether or not they have the H1N1 virus. Furthermore I have the uneasy feeling that at some point, 'fever reducers' will be pulled off the shelves and H1N1 vaccination will be required. JMHO
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Anecdotal, of course... but a coworker of mine flew to China last week and took tylenol and cough medicine specifically to reduce the chance that he'd exhibit symptoms that could be mistaken for the flu. His travel agent suggested he do this, since if one person on the plane exhibited flu symptoms, all the passengers would have been quarantined for 7 days.
Asian countries (like South Korea and China) are primed to respond quickly and strongly to pandemic threats, due to their recent experience with the avian flu.
Another coworker of mine was supposed to fly to China to visit family this summer... her friends and family have told her that they won't see her if she goes, since there are confirmed cases of H1N1 Mexican flu in our area. So she's putting off the trip until the vaccine is available.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
Correct. There is nothing mystical about H1N1. It's a strain of the extremely common influenza A virus. You know influenza A well, you've probably had at least several times in your life. It's the flu. This is just a new strain. It's not any worse (or better) than any other strain of influenza A. All this hand-waving about H1N1 is stupid and pointless. Anybody with half a brain could tell you that, yes, you can carry the flu for several days without showing any symptoms whatsoever.
There were 45,000 cases of the of the swine flu in the U.S. and I think like 25 people died. That's a fatality rate of what? A half of a tenth of a percent? About the same fatality rate for any other strain of influenza A.
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Sorry to post two responses, but I forgot another significant issue.
A lot of countries require incoming travelers to answer some questions about their health, to help prevent the spread of disease. Not sure if the country in question is currently doing this, but I suspect they are.
So you won't be allowed to board the plane unless you answer "no" when asked if you've had any symptoms of illness.
So the fact that they took a fever-reducer means they knew they were ill; the fact that they answered no to the question means they knew they weren't supposed to travel while ill; so the the conclusion is that they took the antipyretic partly to avoid detection.
Assuming, of course, that the country in question requires incoming travelers to answer the questions about illness.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
It's very important to note that the death statistics are misleading.
Because of the enormous attention paid to this flu variant, the level of medical care has been much higher than normal. Furthermore, the season may reduce casualties due to reduced incidence of secondary infections, etc.
Because the casualty level is in line with "normal" flue variants, but mitigating factors mentioned above are present, it's very likely that this strain *is* deadlier than the typical strains.
Furthermore, for countries with lower standards of medical care, or other factors that increase severity (like poor nutrition and sanitary conditions, for example), this strain could have disastrous impact -- especially if it is spreading like wildfire come winter in the northern hemisphere.
In short -- yes, the media has whipped up a frenzy. But, prevention of infection is still a worthy goal, and *some* extra attention is probably a good thing.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
I'm sorry but when it comes to the golden rule, my decision is for them to GTFO till they are well. Coming in 'infectious' sick, regardless of the motivation, is irresponsible and selfish and I'm not willing to put my own wellfare on the line for your paycheck.
Being sent home means:
A. You get the rest needed to recover more quickly
B1. You aren't at work doing a halfassed job because that's all you can do with the energy you have left.
B2. I'm not forced to spend time fixing your halfassed work.
And I'm willing to bet that the amount of work I have to sholder to cover you being out sick would be far less then the amount of work I'd have to sholder to clean up your mess when half assed isn't enough to make it work. Especially since if you are coming in to work sick, you'll probablly be sick longer than if you just took a day off and got over it.
Yes, if you work in a place that does not provide paid sick days, that's unfortunate. But it's worse of a problem if you manage to infect the rest of the office, putting us all in a half dead state.
And I'm hoping, were I the one coming in sick, my coworkers would say the same.
I agree with this wholeheartedly. Our first daughter we went out of our way to make sure she had social interaction and played in dirt, etc. Then my second daughter was born and we found out she had Kostman's Syndrome (Rare disorder where you can't make the white blood cells that fight off bacteria). We went from an attitude of letting our daughter play with anything she wanted and not caring to being one of those families that has hand sanitizer outside the door so visitors washed their hands before entering the house.
I like to say that we reinstalled her immune system (Bone Marrow Transplant) and she is one of the few who has no side effects at all after a transplant, so we're back to letting them (both) play in as much dirt and sharing of waterbottles, etc.
People work out to keep in shape, why not give your immune system a workout too?
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Call me ignorant, naive, or a fool, but a story such as this scares me. If I get sick I go to see my family doctor, make sure it is nothing overly serious, and if it is I do as he says which almost always requires a few days away from work. By the same token my co-workers only need to call in and let us know what is going on, we will cover them. Before anybody claims I have some sort of dream job, let me assure you it is not. I work 12 hours a day in a god forsaken hell pit for just over minimum wage to pay for my going to school, no paid sick days, and I need to work 2 jobs to make it by. That said, I don't worry about calling in sick because I don't want to get my friends, nor customers sick, and if I need i cut my food intake, walk instead of take the bus, or do what I have to do to make it work. There is not a single excuse for coming into work and getting somebody else sick.
I'm sorry I'd rather risk infecting a few people with a minor cough instead of going without water next week because the bill's due and today's hours on my paycheck are what I was counting on to pay it.
If I'm sick I do my best to reduce my symptoms and keep myself away from direct contact with clients, so that I'm NOT going into someone's home (I am a social worker) coughing and sneezing all over myself or their kids. But I don't get free vacation days with which to recover, so forgive me if I find your selfishness just as ignoble as mine. If I have to make the choice between going to work with a cough so that I can pay my bills, and staying home to "get better" (which often doesn't happen in a day anyway) and giving up income that could have provided me with a better cough suppressant or paid my electric bill so I stay warm... screw my co-workers, I'm going to work. Anyone who works with people knows that the best way to avoid sickness is to wash your hands, keep them away from your face at all times and simply avoid people showing signs of illness to the best of your ability to do so. If they come to your desk and cough on you, I find it perfectly acceptable to lodge a complaint about hygiene with the boss, but sending them home when they may need to work to keep themselves fed is thoughtlessly cruel.