One
of the curses of being part of a scientifically trained team with a memory,
longer than the Party’s is, who recalls previous scare stories like AIDS
(Acquired Immunodeficiency Disease Syndrome) which was the gay plague of San
Francisco with homosexuals having sex with 8 lovers a day every day that was
followed by the isolation of the HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and the
fact that it then became a sub Saharan African problem which then became a
worldwide problem is the fact that no-one gets a handle on any disease in its
early stages.
And
Governments and media assume that by panic and large pieces of rock they can
solve the problem.
More
recently think about the Party’s half-hearted and laughable attempts to control
the swine flu panicdemic using the science of the Great Plague. In the same way
the Party is now repeating the process and can you guess who will bear the brunt
of the forthcoming panic as we did with swine flu?
This
week we are informed that airports (but only one) will be “screening” for Ebola
although the details are sketchy. We very much doubt it will be by healthcare
professionals with any experience of the disease more like a jobsworth.
Taking
the patients temperature at an airport to screen for Ebola is like asking NHS
111 to determine if a patient is ill by a telephone call. A guess at best a
waste of time most of the time. The case of Ebola that entered the USA thus far
was asymptomatic when they left the country where they acquired their
infection and so would not have been picked up by “screening” or NHS dumb,
dumb, dumb who would always insist that any patient calling them is seen by a
GP within insert random number of hours.
But
dear
reader what has the Party done? It has employed NHS dumb, dumb, dumb
who
admittedly will have had 6 weeks training in contrast to those on the
swine flu
panic line who only had 2 weeks training to screen those with high
temperatures
and respiratory symptoms. High temperatures and respiratory symptoms
account for about half of those attending same day appointments in
general practice at present. It is after the "flu doc" not a minor very
common viral upper respiratory tract infection.
Still
the addition of an “enhanced” question like have you been to the West coast somewhere
like Morecambe or Blackpool will enable the panic line to dispatch fewer
ambulances or demand less see GP within X hours than usual (not).
This
is no different to the Great Plague mentality of schools in the UK who
immediately isolate any child with a rash called chickenpox to avoid infecting
other children
completely oblivious to the fact that the child has been infectious for days
before the spots appear and what’s more with no or minimal symptoms whatsoever.
But
we would like to reassure the Public that the NHS is still the best prepared
country in the world to deal with Ebola in the same way that it was for the
swine flu panicdemic. The NHS is also probably the best lager in the world and
after discussing this with some consultants over the past few days not one of
us has yet received a MOPP suit.
So
once again Britain’s best defense against a viral infection is luck, a pair of
rubber gloves, some antiseptic hand gel and a paint sprayer’s mask from the
last flu panicdemic 5 years ago and of course don’t panic Mr. Hunt.
And
did we mention this poster (slow to load)?
That
will keep Johnny Ebola away from our shores and surgeries if nothing else will won’t it?
Praise
be to the Party for once again saying that the NHS is probably the best
prepared country to combat Ebola and crossing its fingers while doing so for it
has done nothing more than send a few emails to prepare those in primary
care thus far.
Wonderful
to be this prepared so early in the game. Now where is great granddad’s tin hat
and Somme gas mask . . .?
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