Everyone is afraid of H1N1. It seems the political chief has already take at least three courses of H1N1 medicine that is not available at chemist shops. The last epidemic had seen very important persons demanding that medicine, and our hospital had reserved a stock exclusively for them. This epidemic saw no such stock, or if it exists, they are not telling us, possibly so that we do not ask for any.
Our team delivered a pregnant woman with H1N1 infection during one of our emergencies. (This one was different from the one that they had reported in the newspapers. That one was a known patient with H1N1 infection.) They had not known she had that infection until after the delivery. The next day I found a surprise waiting for me in the outpatient clinic. Everyone was wearing a surgical mask. I had always asked them to wear masks to protect themselves from infections when they examined a lot of patients in the outpatient clinic. They had never taken me seriously, and no one had worn a surgical mask before. Another surprise was an extension of this surprise. Every person's nose was properly covered with the mask. Otherwise the mask tends to slip down the nose in operation theaters - probably to make breathing easier.
"What is the matter?" I asked. "Why is everyone wearing a mask?"
"Sir, that woman we delivered yesterday had H1N1 infection. We had not known about it. So no one had worn a mask while conducting her delivery."
"But how does wearing a mask now protect you retrospectively?" I asked.
"All of us were not involved in conducting that delivery. Our senior resident was involved in her delivery. Now she has developed sore throat. We are wearing masks to protect ourselves from her infection."
Fear of H1N1 had succeeded where my wisdom and counseling had failed. When I entered the outpatient clinic a week later, everyone was without any mask. The senior resident had been shown not to have got H1N1 infection. Now there was no known threat. So no one was wearing any mask.
I wonder if they will ever realize that they can acquire that infection even from people who suffer from it, but don't know that they have it.
Our team delivered a pregnant woman with H1N1 infection during one of our emergencies. (This one was different from the one that they had reported in the newspapers. That one was a known patient with H1N1 infection.) They had not known she had that infection until after the delivery. The next day I found a surprise waiting for me in the outpatient clinic. Everyone was wearing a surgical mask. I had always asked them to wear masks to protect themselves from infections when they examined a lot of patients in the outpatient clinic. They had never taken me seriously, and no one had worn a surgical mask before. Another surprise was an extension of this surprise. Every person's nose was properly covered with the mask. Otherwise the mask tends to slip down the nose in operation theaters - probably to make breathing easier.
"What is the matter?" I asked. "Why is everyone wearing a mask?"
"Sir, that woman we delivered yesterday had H1N1 infection. We had not known about it. So no one had worn a mask while conducting her delivery."
"But how does wearing a mask now protect you retrospectively?" I asked.
"All of us were not involved in conducting that delivery. Our senior resident was involved in her delivery. Now she has developed sore throat. We are wearing masks to protect ourselves from her infection."
Fear of H1N1 had succeeded where my wisdom and counseling had failed. When I entered the outpatient clinic a week later, everyone was without any mask. The senior resident had been shown not to have got H1N1 infection. Now there was no known threat. So no one was wearing any mask.
I wonder if they will ever realize that they can acquire that infection even from people who suffer from it, but don't know that they have it.
