All the classic symptoms were there. There was the headache and sore throat; fever alternating with chills; every muscle hurt. And looking out the window on a sunny day... the eye pain was intense. Of course there was nausea; I shall omit details of the 'exit strategy'. We've all been there too often.
I probably brought this on myself by not checking the expiration date on the unopened soda crackers (last March). My bad. For me, that's all I can eat at such times. Soaking the (slightly stale) crackers in chicken broth helped.
In younger days this would have been a 24-hour thing. I'll take it slower this time. It's not like I have to be anywhere. I'll stay in my comfy chair at the computer and scan the headlines. The headlines are, alas, about the ebola virus.
Here's a bit that caught my eye. It's from The Guardian. Click here for the link.
"Typically, the first signs are a fever involving a headache, joint and muscle pain, sore throat and severe muscle weakness. Many of those symptoms are similar to flu, so Ebola is not immediately obvious..."I haven't even looked at a map of Africa all month. I've barely left the house. I'm surprised the flu could even find me, but (unlike ebola) the flu has many ways of getting to a person.
One worries that the health care industry will go from 'not enough screening' for ebola to 'too much.' Multiple thousands of us will get the flu this winter. Those who need emergency care will have to jump through extra hoops to prove it is the flu, not ebola. When you're down with the flu, 'jumping through hoops' is not always an option!
It's going to be even more complicated for our dedicated health-care workers. We need a perfect design for protective gear that's easy to wear, easy to change. Wouldn't it be fun to try to think of it? I think I'll watch some old Jetson's cartoons for inspiration. (Why not? It's not like I'll be doing much else today.)
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