Doctor's diary: Swine flu advice

By Dr Tom Coffey

Public health messages about swine flu are not getting through to everyone, says GP and hospital doctor, Dr Tom Coffey.

For the last seven days, there's been a big change in the number of patients who are contacting me about swine flu.

They are mainly men between the ages of 15 to 35; a group we very rarely see in General Practice.

I think the vast majority aren't anxious. English stoicism is working through. People are ringing up just to check but most believe, which is quite right at the moment, this is a viral illness, a simple illness, which will last five or six days, and goes away.

At the moment, we say please stay at home, I can assess you very easily over the phone. And if you're not too unwell and have got no underlying illness, it's stay at home, take fluids and paracetamol, and get a flu buddy - someone who if in the future you need them to collect your drugs, or collect your food, you can get them to do so.

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