<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>H1N1: Family doctor did what hospital did not
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->ON JULY 21 at 11pm, we sent our 10-year-old son to KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) with symptoms typical of a flu. He had a high fever of 38.6 deg C, sore throat and persistent cough.
He had seen a GP that evening and the day before and was prescribed antibiotics and a cough mixture. It was his worsening condition that prompted us to take him to KKH.
The doctor did a chest and throat X-ray and confirmed that it was not H1N1 as she claimed that the symptoms were not typical of the illness. The X-ray showed a narrowing of the trachea.
Note that my child is asthmatic and therefore belongs to the "high-risk" group for H1N1 infections.
She prescribed a cough mixture and fever medicine and advised that he be referred to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist for follow-up at a later date.
The next afternoon, we took him to our family physician and after reviewing his case, he immediately ordered a swab and sent it to the lab to test for H1N1.
The next day, the results came through positive for H1N1.
I don't understand why the doctor at KKH did not order that same test.
The lack of initiative by the doctor might have led to unnecessary risk of exposure to the disease for a whole lot of people if we had accepted her diagnosis and carried on with life as normal without taking any precautions.
After receiving the test results from our GP, we stopped work and immediately returned home for quarantine.
How many people could we have infected during the two days?
I thank my GP, Dr Fadzil from Al Barakah Clinic and Surgery in Hougang, for his professionalism and foresight.
I strongly urge the Health Ministry to implement a policy that all doctors order compulsory H1N1 tests for all patients displaying flu symptoms.
I agree we should not panic but we should all learn to be responsible - doctors and patients alike.
Steven Seow
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->ON JULY 21 at 11pm, we sent our 10-year-old son to KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) with symptoms typical of a flu. He had a high fever of 38.6 deg C, sore throat and persistent cough.
He had seen a GP that evening and the day before and was prescribed antibiotics and a cough mixture. It was his worsening condition that prompted us to take him to KKH.
The doctor did a chest and throat X-ray and confirmed that it was not H1N1 as she claimed that the symptoms were not typical of the illness. The X-ray showed a narrowing of the trachea.
Note that my child is asthmatic and therefore belongs to the "high-risk" group for H1N1 infections.
She prescribed a cough mixture and fever medicine and advised that he be referred to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist for follow-up at a later date.
The next afternoon, we took him to our family physician and after reviewing his case, he immediately ordered a swab and sent it to the lab to test for H1N1.
The next day, the results came through positive for H1N1.
I don't understand why the doctor at KKH did not order that same test.
The lack of initiative by the doctor might have led to unnecessary risk of exposure to the disease for a whole lot of people if we had accepted her diagnosis and carried on with life as normal without taking any precautions.
After receiving the test results from our GP, we stopped work and immediately returned home for quarantine.
How many people could we have infected during the two days?
I thank my GP, Dr Fadzil from Al Barakah Clinic and Surgery in Hougang, for his professionalism and foresight.
I strongly urge the Health Ministry to implement a policy that all doctors order compulsory H1N1 tests for all patients displaying flu symptoms.
I agree we should not panic but we should all learn to be responsible - doctors and patients alike.
Steven Seow
