Swine Flu and Travel

I had to go to Brisbane on business for a day during the week and unfortunately I managed to get a chest infection a few days before hand.

Of course we don’t stop to go to a doctor because we assume that give or take a few days we will be fine. 3 hours before I am to get on a plane I get worse and start displaying symptoms of Asthma.

Apart from the fact that it was highly inconvenient I made a dash to the pharmacy got more drugs and ventolin and left to go to the airport.

However the pharmacist made a joke whilst I was handing over money which was along the lines of – with all the panic that is out there at the moment about Swine Flu don’t be surprised if people think you have it.

Well this made me just slightly paranoid and I walked around the airport trying very hard not to give in to a coughing fit. Pictures of security rushing to grab me and take me away for testing and quarantine kept flashing in my mind. Yes I know dramatic but we all love a bit of drama from time to time!

The return plane trip was even more amusing. Every time I coughed the passengers in the seats around me turned in unison to stare at me. I almost expected the entire 4 rows around me to put on their masks. Made me feel special it did. To the extent that on the return trip I took out my ventolin and made a show of actually taking two puffs.

But it made me think how quickly we go into “panic mode”. As of today there are just over 100 reported cases in Victoria. More people have the average cold and many more die of the flu each year. If the swine flu wasn’t around and I displayed the same symptoms no one would have paid attention.

I am not a medical person and I understand that this has the potential to get a lot worse however I am a little tired of the press almost willing there to be a pandemic so they have something major to report on.

Let ‘s be sensible, realistic, take necessary precautions and listen to advise provided to us by the medical authorities.

Above all please don’t assume that if a fellow passenger has a coughing fit they are carrying the Swine Flu.

Have a healthy weekend all