<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Not tested for virus despite contact risk
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->WHAT is the rationale of the Ministry of Health advising the public to call an ambulance if they have symptoms of the Influenza A (H1N1) virus, when the hospital does no test to confirm it?
Last Saturday, my husband started to cough and had flu symptoms. We could have just brushed it off as any other seasonal flu. However, as he goes to Maju Camp for his individual physical proficiency test every week, the probability of his contracting�H1N1 is much higher.
Initially, we called a pandemic preparedness clinic on the list but was told to go to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. We were aware - from a letter in the Forum page - that we might have to pay $214 even if the test was negative, but we still called an ambulance.
What was shocking was that my husband was discharged immediately after the hospital staff who attended to him took his temperature, blood pressure and heartbeat rate - the usual procedure for any A&E admission. No H1N1 testing was done. On top of that, he had to pay $85 for nothing.
He had no signs of fever but it has been reported that one in 10 confirmed cases has no such signs. Should hospital staff then not be more prudent and give my husband an H1N1 test, considering he has been in and out of Maju Camp?
My three-year-old child, who belongs to the high-risk group, and I may be at risk of contracting H1N1 because of this.
Ong Tze Lin (Mdm)
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->WHAT is the rationale of the Ministry of Health advising the public to call an ambulance if they have symptoms of the Influenza A (H1N1) virus, when the hospital does no test to confirm it?
Last Saturday, my husband started to cough and had flu symptoms. We could have just brushed it off as any other seasonal flu. However, as he goes to Maju Camp for his individual physical proficiency test every week, the probability of his contracting�H1N1 is much higher.
Initially, we called a pandemic preparedness clinic on the list but was told to go to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. We were aware - from a letter in the Forum page - that we might have to pay $214 even if the test was negative, but we still called an ambulance.
What was shocking was that my husband was discharged immediately after the hospital staff who attended to him took his temperature, blood pressure and heartbeat rate - the usual procedure for any A&E admission. No H1N1 testing was done. On top of that, he had to pay $85 for nothing.
He had no signs of fever but it has been reported that one in 10 confirmed cases has no such signs. Should hospital staff then not be more prudent and give my husband an H1N1 test, considering he has been in and out of Maju Camp?
My three-year-old child, who belongs to the high-risk group, and I may be at risk of contracting H1N1 because of this.
Ong Tze Lin (Mdm)
