When H1N1 Hits Home - Aftermath

With much help from the medicines he has been taking, Mattin finally got rid of his whooping cough on day 5. With that gone, he didn't appear to be sick at all. However, he was still quarantined in his room as a precautionary measure and the Cisco guys still kept visiting him at least twice daily until day 7.

The rest of us were fortunate not to have been afflicted with the virus. We didn't even have to take Tamiflu, something I really didn't want to do unless it was absolutely necessary. Our misfortune only went as far as having to eat the same food everyday and being confined within the walls of our home — insignificant to the ordeal my six-year old cousin had to go through. Except for the initial scare (for Matthin's condition), momentary paranoia and period of adjustment, the experience wasn't as bad as we were led to think.

I've agreed since the beginning with my uncle's decision to have Matthin stay at home instead of confining him in the hospital. It would have been twice as difficult for the six-year old boy if the alternative was chosen. Besides, the doctors wouldn't have presented the option if they weren't sure it was safe for him in the first place. This might not need saying, but I'll say it anyway: if this ever happens to your cousin, brother or child, I invite you to consider taking the same course of action.

Today is Matthin's first day in school after the break. He was excited to go back and we were only glad that his excitement had the opposite effect last night — he was able to sleep early. A number of parents in Matthin's school had previously expressed their concern about the unnecessary spread of the news regarding what the boy has been through in the last week, worried that this might cause unnecessary panic on the part of other parents. Their concern is not unwarranted — just a few weeks ago, a boy was being avoided by his classmates because he had cough and colds.

Today is also the day the rest of us go back to our normal lives. Today we regain contact with the outside world, not having to worry about being a threat to the rest of society. We have a story to tell and a few lessons to remember and share from the experience.

Maybe there's no need to be overly concerned with H1N1. But this doesn't mean we can take things for granted and not take measures to protect ourselves from unnecessary trouble. Remaining vigilant is not synonymous to being obsessed. There's wisdom in Andrew Grove's words: "Only the paranoid survive." But as always, we need to take advice with a grain of salt and see things from the right perspective lest we give things a different meaning and turn a totally good advice into words of disaster.

Practicing proper hygiene is a must, with or without H1N1. But if anyone at home should ever be afflicted with the virus, informing the right people is the right thing to do and wearing a mask if you have to report for work or go to school is a little sacrifice that's not unworthy of making.

This is the end of day 7 and the end of this H1N1 series.

***
>>Day 4<<

>>Day 3<<

>>Day 2<<

>>Day 1<<

When H1N1 Hits Home - Day 4

I see Matthin drawing on his desk. He looks good under the circumstances. I can definitely see his improvement since day 1. I just wish he'd lose the cough in the next day or two. Somehow his mother managed to do just that.

The rest of us in the house remain asymptomatic. We're glad that aside from this major inconvenience, there seems to be no permanent damage that H1N1 has caused us. We're glad that the virus is not as lethal as it was earlier feared to be. Of course, this doesn't mean we'd want to be down with it if we had a choice.

If you've read the previous posts, you already know that Matthin is quite big a boy for his age. Since there's pretty much nothing to say about this day, I'd like to share a few more things about my cousin:

1.He loves fried rice. Well, he likes food in general. But he especially loves fried rice. Aside from not wanting anything else but hotdogs when he was younger, Matthin never really gave his parents much of a headache when it comes to getting him to eat. It's good to see him continually expanding his menu since he turned five.

2. He likes playing badminton. Like any other child, he'd cry if you beat him. But he keeps playing nevertheless and of course, the inevitable happens — he keeps getting better at the sport as the weeks go by.

3. He's a Nadal fan. His mother is Federer fan and so am I. Still, Matthin made up his mind and roots for Rafa. He's not yet playing tennis but I'm sure he'd love it when he does.

4. He's into running. It wasn't easy to get him started though. At first he was excited when he joined a fun run in school. Then his face turned bluish red after running 25 meters during a running clinic. My aunt made it her mission to get Matthin into better shape. I remember us pulling out every trick in the bag we knew to get him to run a complete round in the track. His tears kept rolling and his shouts kept coming but he just wouldn't run. After six rounds of walking, he seemed convinced we were never going to stop unless he gave it a try, which he did. Don't ask me how, but he's enjoyed running ever since. Before he was down with the flu, he was running more than I did. Actually that's an understatement because I only get to run a maximum of three times in a week but this kid runs a minimum of five.

5. He likes playing the piano. This kid has a great memory. I'm running out of stuff to teach him on the keyboard. He's been recently forcing me to teach him a piece I haven't even completed myself. I'm sure a piano teacher will have a good time with him. Geez, I miss playing with this boy.

Oh well, it looks like we can see the end of this quarantine period. I sure hope there are no unpleasant surprises. We'll keep praying.

Matthin can barely keep himself inside his room. Thank goodness for TV, X-box and his ever patient mom.
***
>>Day 3<<

>>Day 2<<

>>Day 1<<

When H1N1 Hits Home - Day 3

Wednesday, Day 3. Fun flies when you're doing time. I should be taking pictures of sunsets. How much more for a six-year old boy who's confined in his own room for three days now?

Well, except for his coughs, Matthin appears to be fine. But his mother seems to have developed the same unpleasant sounding cough. Everyone else in the house remains asymptomatic.

The Cisco staff came twice during the day to check on Matthin. They never go in. They just let Matthin come to them near the door and they examine him visually from there. My uncle hypothesizes that they're merely making sure that Matthin is not getting out of the house and the real intention is not to check if he's doing fine, because they're not doctors anyway. Whatever the motivation, I'm glad they're checking. The phone calls come in too.

My uncle actually called them to ask for more Tamiflu, as suggested by the doctor, so everybody else —aside from Matthin and his Mom— could take it as a preventive measure. Over lunch I made a comment about possibly not taking it before the symptoms start showing up. I realize of course the point of not having to go through unnecessary suffering, which is why one would want to take it while being asymptomatic. It's just that I remember hearing in CNN that it might not have the desired effect if it's taken too early and that it's best taken within two days after the symptoms appear. I think I also remember hearing that if you don't have the virus and you take Tamiflu, it might no longer be effective once you really get hit by the virus. I don't trust what I think I remember, so don't you too — I don't want to be the source of misinformation.

I decided to do a bit of research on the Web to learn more about this. Below are what I found.

• From http://www.tamiflu.com/treat.aspx:
  
  For flu prevention: When you have been exposed to someone with the flu, taking TAMIFLU can help keep the virus from making you sick


• From http://www.dancewithshadows.com/pillscribe/swine-flu-india-on-high-alert-plans-to-stockpile-15-billion-oseltamivir-pills/:
  
  Oseltamivir may be given as a preventive measure either during a community outbreak or following close contact with an infected individual. Standard prophylactic dosage is 75 mg once daily for patients aged 13 and older, which has been shown to be safe and effective for up to six weeks.


• From http://www.drugs.com/pdr/tamiflu.html:
  To prevent the flu, take it once a day for at least 7 days. Protection lasts as long as you take the drug.

Based on these, Tamiflu does help prevent someone from getting the flu. That is, as long as it's being taken. I didn't find anything saying that it won't be effective in the future when the flu hits if it's previously been taken for preventive measures.

It occurred to me while I was doing the research that Matthin wasn't able to take Tamiflu within 48 hours after he had high fever, his first symptom. If the Cisco guys weren't late and came a day earlier —day 1 instead of day 2— they would've made it on time. Still, he has showed some great improvement after taking the medicine so we're all glad about that.

With closed windows and an open door that leads to the living room and everywhere else, the ventilation might be a cause for concern. Or maybe not. Remains to be seen in the next few days.

This is the end of day 3.

***
>>Day 2<<

>>Day 1<<

When H1N1 Hits Home - Day 2

Day 2 is Tuesday, July 30, 2009 — two days into home quarantine and four days since Matthin, my cousin, was symptomatic of the H1N1 virus.

Among other things, I started this day with a call to a friend who was a doctor. We discussed some other thing and when we were about to say goodbye, he asked how I was doing so I gave him the news. He says we shouldn't be worried too much, that it's very similar to the common flu, and that deaths are very rare. Coming from someone you trust, that was quite reassuring.

Matthin is doing well: no fever, no asthma, just a very bad sounding cough. He doesn't look lethargic; he would've been out of his room if his parents weren't scaring him that the police would come get him if forced his way out. I'm glad he's a strong, 40-kilo, almost 5 feet tall, 6-year old boy.

So far no one else inside the house is symptomatic. Matthin's mom looks haggard but appears to be healthy. Matthin's dad, my uncle, has been sleeping in the living room since day 1. The rest of us have been taking extra doses of vitamin C. My uncle came up with his own concoction of boiled ginger, lemon and honey for all of us to drink. Can you blame us? We'd do what we can to stay healthy. By the way, uncle's concoction tastes good to me.

The Cisco personnel arrived late at the afternoon, citing delays due to MOH. They should have been here on day 1. That doesn't sound good because it could mean they have too many cases to take care of. Oh well... As one might expect, the Cisco guys were wearing N95 masks and yellow plastic scrubs. They brought a standard H1N1 kit —as they called it— which included a short literature for Matthin's parents to read, thermometers and most importantly, medicine. There were two sets of Tamiflu — one for Matthin and another for his mother.

They did not install cameras as we were earlier told. They didn't even go beyond the door step. I guess they had no reason to do so. Maybe we really are not suppose to take things too seriously. It's just that in my obsessive-compulsive state of mind, I was expecting a little bit more, like a short lecture on the most critical things we need to monitor Matthin about or a demonstration of how to properly ventilate his room. In place of the cameras, my uncle was told, would be constant monitoring through phone calls. Anyhow, I'm still glad they came and that Matthin could now take proper medication.

***

Here's a very good booklet regarding H1N1 from UN.ORG:
Pandemic Flu Influenza A (H1N1) Virus). It's a concise and practical guide on things you need to know about the virus, what you should do to prevent contracting it and what you ought to do in case you or your loved one has already gotten it, including how to properly take care of them. If you're serious about wearing masks, there's a proper way to handle them and there's a short paragraph about that in the booklet.

Even with the constant barrage of information from the news, I was surprised about how much I and my housemates didn't know about H1N1 and viruses in general. For instance, the booklet suggests that "separating of eating utensils for use by a patient with influenza is not necessary". It was something we did as a precaution but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry. But then again, if you ask me, I'm really more concerned about other things than the segregation of utensils.

Here's a preview of its Table of Contents so you'd see how practical it is:


That's it. This is the end of day 2.

***
>>Day 1<<

When H1N1 Hits Home - Day 1

There has never been a post more difficult to start than this. And I'm not even sure how to proceed.

Maybe I can begin by saying that true to the title, the H1N1 virus has indeed found its way to our very home. It's just too bad that my six-year old cousin, Matthin, had to be its first victim. What worries me is that he has asthma and is therefore considered to be among the higher risk group.

They arrived here in Singapore last Wednesday, June 24, Matthin and her mother. My aunt had to rush home because his father had suffered a heart attack. She had to take Matthin with her because no one could take care of him if he was left here. They came back after making sure aunt's father —who's undergoing therapy because his right side from head to toe was paralyzed— was on his way to recovery after a few scary days in the ICU. As if that unfortunate event wasn't enough, they arrived here to find out a few days later that Matthin had somehow caught the virus.

What purpose does it serve if I share this with the rest of the world? Well, apart from simply telling a story, I think there are lessons to be learned from this. Let me stall no further.

For starters, for anyone who has been outside the country, I think it serves Singapore best that you isolate yourself from society for a few days after you arrive. Actually, even before that, and this has been stated in the news over and over again, travel outside the country only if it's really necessary.

Going back to the idea of self-quarantine, I simply opine that it's the responsible thing to do. Going one step further, maybe it's a good company policy to implement this for employees coming from overseas. One of my clients even require their employees to wear masks for a number of days in the office, after the quarantine period. This idea is also applicable to schools, but I think they're doing a much better job.

In our case, the first judgment error was assuming that there was no way Matthin and his mom could have contracted the virus because they weren't going out too often when they were overseas. Some would conclude that's so naive, but it's a more common conception than we think. It's so easy to be careless. What a cliche, but hey, just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist and won't find its way to you.

Because of that initial wrong assumption, another case of bad judgment was bound to occur. Despite us being aware that not going out of the house for at least seven days was prudent, Matthin and his dad went out to watch Transformers that Saturday. He got home in the midst of an asthma attack along with coughs that didn't sound good. He also had a high fever late that night. Once again, because of that wrong premise, it was easier to rationalize the cause than suspect H1N1 was the culprit.

The next day, Sunday, Matthin's parents finally decided to call the hospital and report his condition. An ambulance arrived after about two hours to pick up Matthin and his mother.

"Mommy, I'm excited to ride the ambulance!" Matthin stated.

I saw them being handed a mask before they were allowed to step into the ambulance. Fast forward, about three hours later, they were back at home announcing that the results would only be out after two days. It had become a waiting game.

Day 1 is today, Monday, June 29 — the day we learned of the results. I was in the office when my aunt called me.

"Bad news. Results are out and Matthin is positive." She gave it to me straight.

For a minute there I thought she was kidding and I was waiting for the punchline. She even told me guys from Cisco where coming to that house later at night to install cameras so they could monitor the patient. When no punchline came, I had to ask directly if she was pulling my leg. I believed her when she told me it was no joking matter. When she told me to buys masks, the little doubt or hope inside me dissipated.

I gave myself a few minutes to think things over and decide what was my best course of action. Soon thereafter I informed my boss about the news and I was immediately sent home. It took me three blocks to find 3M N95 masks from a Guardian store in Raffles — a box of which containing 20 pieces cost $60.

When I got home, they've started trying to quarantine Matthin in their room. No one was yet wearing masks. I handed out what I bought and we all tried it out, Matthin included. I found it a bit difficult to breathe through the mask and there's a certain kind of smell that never really goes away.

We started segregating our utensils after dinner. Matthin was told he wasn't allowed to leave the room. My uncle moved one of the TV sets along with the Xbox from the living room to what would be Matthin's own little world in the next few days. Except for his eyes, Matthin looks fine. Well, Matthin is a strong boy. He'll be fine. We're praying for his speedy recovery.

As for Cisco, we waited for them to arrive until way past midnight. They never came.

This is the end of day 1.