H1N1...

I showed all the symptoms. The initial dripping nose, followed by the terrible sore throat and the body aches... I didn't think much of it till after the movie, when the fever, giddy spells and lethargy came into play. It didn't help that my family was approximately half a world away in Milan when all this started to erupt. There was no warm chicken soup to sooth the aches away, nor comforting words to help ease the terrible discomfort I was in. I, being the good samaritan I am, decided to call a couple of those whom I spent the Sunday with to let them know of my current predicament and alert them to the possibilities. After the phone calls and 2 episodes of Will & Grace, I downed two tablets of Decolgen before tucking myself into my mum's bed and calling it a night. 

I got up only at 1 the next day (thanks for the phone calls and SMSes...) and felt (surprisingly...) much better. The fever was gone and so was the terrible headache. I decided to just pay a visit to the doc's just to make sure everything was alright... after all... I did show all the symptoms right? 

The doctor confirmed that it was most probably a normal flu though the H1N1 strain would also elicit the same symptoms as the normal flu. The only way to confirm it would be to get a more detailed check up at the hospital where they can determine just which strain of Influenza Virus I am down with. My GP's a really cool dude, so he kinda briefed me a bit on the type of flu we're dealing with here and why everyone (in the medical field to be specific...) is so uptight about this little virus. 

The H1N1 strain that we're seeing now both in Singapore and around the world is exhibiting a similar trend of infections that was observed during the Spanish flu, where the initial wave which struck, though serious was merely a prelude of what was to come. Most of the fatalities of the Spanish Flu occurred during the 2nd wave which struck when the unusually virulent and deadly type A virus strain of the subtype H1N1 (Yes!! the same darn thing we're seeing now...) mutated a much more deadlier form. 

Coming back to the main topic of discussion for this post, that being me, I am feeling much better now and hopefully will be back in fighting shape by the week's end in time for my Swiss Ironman/ Europe Tour. I am headed off to the pool now to meet up with my fellow traveller's for one final brief before we hit the road!

Till the next entry!