What did the doctor do? She asked my symptoms and I gave them to her. She looked in my ears, nose, and throat. She listened to me breath with the stethoscope. She took my blood pressure and had me weigh in.
Then she said that I had what was likely a sinus infection, or possibly the flu. Gave me a prescription to an antibiotic and recommended a stronger antihistamine. Gave me a sample of some nasal steroid spray (which I promptly broke).
This is typical of the type of examination one gets when they get a cold or respiratory flu-like symptoms. I've never had an exam that involved isolating any particular strain of flu. And yet they're suddenly finding these cases of swine flu popping up here and there.
I think that this entire "swine flu" issue is a farce. Perhaps it's another government-invented "emergency" that will require a response that 'only government can provide'. I don't trust 'em a bit.
I agree with everything you’ve said up to the last sentence. :) As I posted on this thread, my family was also hit with the flu. The only one besides me that we brought in was my daughter who had a nasty sore throat and started having trouble swallowing due to the inflammation. She too (besides having a strep test done) received the same instructions minus the antibiotic. (In my case it hit me NOT as a flu, but as Acute Bronchitis due to either a bacterial or viral pathogen(don’t know if that’s the right word). In my case I responded VERY well to antibiotics - in fact my bronchitis might have been a pure COINCIDENCE really - and although I’m still recovering my children and hubby are almost 100% back to normal (some nagging coughing which is to be expected).
I guess what we really need to know to understand WHY this particular doctor thought to submit samples for testing in the first place. WHO the doctor or doctors were (perhaps they were already part of a study and ALL their patients had samples taken and submitted as part of an oversight of these various flu strains to begin with? I do know there ARE active studies of this nature going on CONSTANTLY nowadays in order to be prepared for which strain may hit during the next flu season).
I would caution that simply dismissing this out of hand may not be the best course of action. Again, not suggesting panic, or buying into every theory about this that comes along, but to completely dismiss this as some “conspiracy” seems naive, IMHO. Think of all the people that would have to be involved in a conspiracy of this sort — doctors, the CDC, WHO, the Mexican doctors, the DEAD patients, etc...
This virus is real, people have REALLY honestly died. Whether it has the potential of the dreaded pandemic the likes of the Plague during Medeival Times, or even the Spanish Influenza of 1918 is obviously up in the air (no pun intended). HOWEVER, at this point it would be better to be safe than sorry — especially until all the information on the whos, whats, whys and hows are “in”.
Another problem — our MSM SUCKS, and there is so much (even UNintentionally) faulty information or misinformation out there right now propagated by our media that it is NOT helping the average citizen of our world get a good handle on just how much caution we should be taking.
That used to be the case for me as well every time, until January of this year when my doctor decided my symptoms merited a nasal swab. She then stuck a cotton swab so far up my nose I swear she was scraping my brain. It HURTS a lot.
The test showed I did have the flu and she prescribed Tamiflu, which my insurance didn't cover and set me back $125.