Friday, October 30, 2009

We're No Doctors but

...we know doctors. There is something we can do. It's not Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved but even the CDC believes that using some alternate means other than waiting on the vaccine isn't unacceptable behavior.
H1N1 flu
Our doctors are the international physicians from the World Health Organization (WHO) because they haven't been wrong yet. Tracing their actions and suggestions the CDC has lagged behind in suggestions made by the WHO.
Studies show that early treatment, preferably within 48 hours after the first sign of symptoms, appear associated with better clinical outcome.

For patients who initially present with severe illness or whose condition begins to deteriorate, WHO recommends that treatment with oseltamivir should start immediately, no matter when illness started and without waiting for laboratory results.

For patients at risk for serious disease, including those with certain underlying medical conditions, WHO recommends treatment with either oseltamivir or zanamivir as soon as possible after the onset of symptoms and without waiting for the results of laboratory tests.

In all cases, where oseltamivir is unavailable or cannot be used for any reason, zanamivir may be given.

Or we can just wait our turn to either get sick and survive which is the most likely scenario. We mean, after all, who expects to die. The Washington Post and the local jurisdictions Departments of Health (DC, MD, VA) each have their own schedules and neither the three (3) small meet.

Total Doses Shipped as of*10/28/09
District of Columbia
Maryland
Virginia
49,000
306,900
489,700
TOTALS

579400

There is open reciprocity - meaning you can wait in line in three (3) states for the vaccine without being a resident of state of the line you choose. We're of course, overlooking the other alternative which will go without saying. But you know what it is!

One of the great things about this nation is the ability to choose. That's what makes this the greatest nation on the face of the planet. The second thing that makes this the greatest nation on the face of the planet is that we can and often DO do better!

1 comment:

  1. In the District of Columbia we did not run out of vaccine, the lines were manageble, the only overwhelming aspect of the process was the data entry. We had a back log of processed forms left to be entered at the end of the day. My guestimate is that 75 percent of the patients were from the District of Columbia 20 percent from Virginia and 5 percent from Maryland.

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