Swine flu, or a cold?

[Notters]

Not sure why I'm posting this on here, probably because I'm bitter.

My housemate has been off work since last Thursday with "swine flu", throughout which time he's continued to eat normally and smoke. Meanwhile, he's continually asking for sympathy from anyone who will give it, particularly through the wonderful medium that is facebook. Now I'm pretty sure if I had whatever he's got, I'd still be at work. Who here has had swine flu, and did you continue to stuff your face?! He's also on a self imposed quarantine and won't even go for a walk along the seafront in case he infects anyone.

 

[Wardy]

Not sure why I'm posting this on here, probably because I'm bitter.

My housemate has been off work since last Thursday with "swine flu", throughout which time he's continued to eat normally and smoke. Meanwhile, he's continually asking for sympathy from anyone who will give it, particularly through the wonderful medium that is facebook. Now I'm pretty sure if I had whatever he's got, I'd still be at work. Who here has had swine flu, and did you continue to stuff your face?! He's also on a self imposed quarantine and won't even go for a walk along the seafront in case he infects anyone.

I guess he has the symptoms and therefore as been told he has it. Since that is the way it is working now. As for him not being at work I totally agree. I work for a Borough council and we have strict guidelines that anyone showing the symptoms of swine flu should be sent home. This is to protect not only them but more importantly those that they work with.

 

[itszamora]

Actual flu, swine or otherwise, fucks you up. If your housemate actually had it he would not be out of bed, and he wouldn't want to eat or smoke.

 

[Deleted User X18H]

If you have any type of Flu the first thing to go is your appetite secondly the main ingredient for this 'swine flu' is a high temperature which will make anyone feel really quite poorly for a few days excluding the other symptoms.

I'd say if you housemate is that active and hungry he has a bad to moderate cold and if he has told people he has swine flu and contracts it at a later stage and here's a good old 80's phrase 'woe betide him'

 

[Deleted User X18H]

I guess he has the symptoms and therefore as been told he has it. Since that is the way it is working now. As for him not being at work I totally agree. I work for a Borough council and we have strict guidelines that anyone showing the symptoms of swine flu should be sent home. This is to protect not only them but more importantly those that they work with.

So if you had like I had over the weekend a good old fashion common cold with symptoms of a sore throat, runny nose, sneezing and a hacking cough, no tempreture or aches the council would send you home with suspected swine flu

 

[Wardy]

So if you had like I had over the weekend a good old fashion common cold with symptoms of a sore throat, runny nose, sneezing and a hacking cough, no tempreture or aches the council would send you home with suspected swine flu

Yep pretty much. I am not saying I agree with it.

 

[Deleted User X18H]

Yep pretty much. I am not saying I agree with it.

How ridiculous, I can hear it now, anyone sneezing or coughing getting the third degree and other staff getting almost quite angry and insisting they leave, almost militantly!!

See I told you all this would paralyse the economy

 

[Deleted User X18H]

the classic symptoms of any flu are a hot and cold shivers to kick off, followed by muscular and joint pain and overall lethargy.

The cold symptoms that SOMETIMES accompany this usually follow on as the body is at its weakest and more susceptible.

 

[Notters]

If you have any type of Flu the first thing to go is your appetite secondly the main ingredient for this 'swine flu' is a high temperature which will make anyone feel really quite poorly for a few days excluding the other symptoms.

I'd say if you housemate is that active and hungry he has a bad to moderate cold and if he has told people he has swine flu and contracts it at a later stage and here's a good old 80's phrase 'woe betide him'

My thoughts precisely. I've only had flu once and felt like death. I think they're misleading people by sayin swine flu has "mild symptoms like seasonal flu".

 

[Icy Gull]

If you have flu you struggle to even get out of bed, if you can get up and wander around you do not have flu.

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

If you have flu you struggle to even get out of bed, if you can get up and wander around you do not have flu.

How badly you're affected largely depends upon how well you're immune system copes with the virus, that's why some people only experience mild symptoms of influenza.

In case anyone's interested:

Swine flu - Symptoms

 

[Wardy]

I recall seeing a GP on the tellybox last week who was saying she had had a confirmed case at her surgery where the person with swine-flu felt fine. I think that is the problem not all people are getting the high temperatures or other more crippling symptoms.

 

[strings]

I guess he has the symptoms and therefore as been told he has it. Since that is the way it is working now. As for him not being at work I totally agree. I work for a Borough council and we have strict guidelines that anyone showing the symptoms of swine flu should be sent home. This is to protect not only them but more importantly those that they work with.

I work at a University and we have a swine flu action plan. Anyone showing any sign of any colds/flu like symptoms is sent home immediately.

 

[Lady Bracknell]

My son has just recovered from swine flu and he was too ill to do anything, including eat. He didn't worry about self-imposing quarantine because he wasn't well enough to leave the house in the first place. Nonetheless, it was probably a relatively mild case given the lack of complications but he's not 100% now and that's well over a week later. As for symptoms, he had the ferocious high temperature followed by feeling generally awful with no appetite and no energy.

There seems to be some sort of summer cold going round which is confusing things too because everyone is assuming (and I was guilty!) that a sore throat and some sneezing equals swine flu. Whereas the one reliably indicative symptom of swine flu is the sudden high temperature and without that, you've probably got nothing more exciting than a cold. Employers are treating people as if the Black Death were upon us and not surprisingly, some people are enjoying the chance to take some unquestioned sick leave. Which will serve the skivers right when they do get swine flu. Because they will!

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

The "Ten Pound Test" is a good indicator of flu rather than a cold.

If you saw a tenner float onto your windowsill and could'nt get out of bed to retrieve it, it's probably the Flu.

 

[Norman Baker suck my lozenge]

If He had swine flu or any type of flu He would not be up and about smoking and eating,every cough would almost certainly result in a follow through,
sounds to me like a nasty case of studentitis,be careful,keep an eye on him,it may well develop into a full blown case of Labour MP.

 

[house your seagull]

13% of the UK workforce will be away from work due to swine flu before september.

 

[Norman Potting]

The "Ten Pound Test" is a good indicator of flu rather than a cold.

If you saw a tenner float onto your windowsill and could'nt get out of bed to retrieve it, it's probably the Flu.

Forget all the medical mumbo jumbo, I suspect that is as good a test as you can get (although the version I heard is a £20 note at the bottom of the bed). It is a long time since I had "real" flu (1982 to be precise) and if you have it, you would know it. You feel absolute cack, have a raging temperature and lose your appetite.

 

[drew]

Actual flu, swine or otherwise, fucks you up. If your housemate actually had it he would not be out of bed, and he wouldn't want to eat or smoke.

It's amazing how this forum is so good at spreading ignorance based on urban myth!!!

Since when were you an expert on influenza? Normal flu that goes around every year (albeit different strains) renders you bed ridden because of high temperatures, muscle aches etc. In my 46 years I have only ever had it once and have never confused it with run of mill colds. However, swine flu is different and if you bother to read or listen to the info given out then you will know that in most cases it will be very mild so it is conceivable that this flat mate of the orignal poster does have it.

As for Notters attitude of going to work irrespective of whether he had it or not I suspect we have all seen people like that. Spend a week in the office and on the train, coughing, sneezing spreading the infection to everyone else but manfully pointing out how good they are being at work. I suspect they would be the same if they had the Black Death but then subsequently be puzzled why some of the colleagues never come back.

 

[skr80]

a new avatar for swine flu: