What a timely topic, we just had grand rounds this morning on influenza, and of course, swine flu.
First off, I think that any MD should test for anything they bother to diagnose. I grew up with a pediatrician that ALWAYS tested, and ALWAYS delayed treatment until those results were back, and I wish that all MDs were like that.
It's not always cost effective and worth testing for some things, because it often won't change your management, and sometimes you can't delay treatment. With the flu, it can take several days to confirm H1N1. For Tamiflu to be effective, it needs to be started less than 48 hours from the start of symptoms, you can't wait for a positive result. Also, by the time the results are back, often, the patient will be feeling better, so what's the point to do it? I believe the current CDC recommendation is only to culture people getting admitted to the hospital, otherwise, it just runs up the cost of healthcare, and we all know people hate that.
Yep. Did you ever look into how well people did, the ones treated by homeopaths, in the big flu epidemic in the 1800s? They fared FAR better than those treated allopathically.
Are you thinking of the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic? I really don't think it's fair to compare an epidemic that happened almost 100 years ago to today. Back then, very few people were even washing their hands after coming into contact with a sick person. They had very few medications, certainly no Tamiflu or amatadine, they had no flu vaccines. They really didn't have much. Now, we can treat you if you come early enough with Tamiflu, we can give you IV fluids if you're too nauseous to drink, we are better able to treat complications than we were 100 years ago. So get back to me when you can show me data that nowadays, homeopathic and osteopathic remedies alone are better than allopathic. By the way, I'm an osteopathic medical student, and my school is huge on OMT, but even our OMT doctors would never suggest that if you have a patient with the flu or pneumonia, you should only treat them with manipulation. Use it as an adjunct, sure. Use it alone, never. And this is from people who make a living practicing osteopathic medicine.
OP, while I'm not trying to discredit your doctor, when I had swine flu, I barely had the energy to get to the doctor. I was a mess, I actually had somehow driven to school since I had a lab, and my professor actually kicked me out of lab and sent me to the clinic. I could barely sit in the exam room because I felt so terrible. But, it does effect everyone differently. The thing with the flu is that the symptoms are so non specific, and so generalized. And I know you said you had a temp of 99.2, but that's really not considered a fever, at our hospital, a fever is over 100.4, since there are natural fluctuations in your body temperature throughout the day. Whatever you got, I hope you feel better soon.
BTW, I know everyone gets concerned with the epidemic, because it hits the normally healthiest people the hardest. If you look at past flu epidemics, the highest mortalities were I think people from 15-50, normally the group that does best with illness. They think the reason for this is because in that population, their immune systems are the strongest, so when they got infected, their immune systems launched into overdrive, and essentially, the response was too strong, and their own bodies kill them. That's the theory anyway.
And if anyone wants to compare it to the Spanish flu of 1918, it so far seems to be following a similar pattern (according to our ID doctor). It started in the early summer, was relatively mild, dropped off in late summer/early fall, and then picked up again and that's when it was severe and caused the most damage. So that's what they're concerned with, that now, it's dropped off a bit, but they're afraid of it picking back up and coming back stronger like the 1918 flu.
