The link is to NHS Blog Doc's take on Swine flu. Extracting a bit:
I hear there is to be a dedicated "swine flu line". The layman who answers has been "empowered" both to diagnose swine flu and to prescribe Tamiflu. I wish someone would likewise "empower" me. I don't know how to diagnose swine flu. I can prescribe Tamiflu, though as yet I have not. I would not take it, and I would not give it to my family, so why would I prescribe it for patients? What this means is that anyone with any vaguely viral symptom is going to get "treatment" for a condtion they probably do not have with a drug that is next to useless and may have hitherto unexpected side effects. Great! It is going to be worse than resisting the demands for inappropriate antibiotics.
Where I have a problem is that we are closing schools and possibly university campuses, people are being prevented from flying out, but the government see nothing wrong with people getting infected on planes flying into the UK.
Although it is too late now we do need a proper look at disease tranmission vectors. The government have had a policy of "containment" meaning I presume keeping it in the UK.
I hear there is to be a dedicated "swine flu line". The layman who answers has been "empowered" both to diagnose swine flu and to prescribe Tamiflu. I wish someone would likewise "empower" me. I don't know how to diagnose swine flu. I can prescribe Tamiflu, though as yet I have not. I would not take it, and I would not give it to my family, so why would I prescribe it for patients? What this means is that anyone with any vaguely viral symptom is going to get "treatment" for a condtion they probably do not have with a drug that is next to useless and may have hitherto unexpected side effects. Great! It is going to be worse than resisting the demands for inappropriate antibiotics.
Where I have a problem is that we are closing schools and possibly university campuses, people are being prevented from flying out, but the government see nothing wrong with people getting infected on planes flying into the UK.
Although it is too late now we do need a proper look at disease tranmission vectors. The government have had a policy of "containment" meaning I presume keeping it in the UK.
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