http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2009/05/20/sick-doctors-sick-notes-and-swine-flu-why-coroners-reports-are-so-yesterday/ Just another blogs.bmj.com weblog Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:52:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2009/05/20/sick-doctors-sick-notes-and-swine-flu-why-coroners-reports-are-so-yesterday/#comment-102 Prof Thomas Faunce Fri, 22 May 2009 00:25:16 +0000 http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/?p=53#comment-102 Here in Australia, when news of the swine flu epidemic broke out catoonists in the colonial national dailys were elated that the microbes had finally mutated into an infectious disease capable of preferentially targeting corporate hedge fund managers, bundled debt scheisters and the whole host of greedy individuals who conceived the plan that we should glabally socialise risk and privatise profit. TV news reports showed infa-red scanning of airport visitors though most knew the sensitivity and specificity of that test for H1N1 must be minimal.Then allegations began to emerge that the virus had mutated in certain giant pig farms in Mexico where the poor animals were crowded knee deep in excrement and sprayed with antibiotics to stimulate growth. Amidst the din and clamour we watched for the WHO pandemic score as some might have awaited a rise in interest rates by the reserve bank a few years ago. Dust masks and tamiflu began to become scarce in chemists. Warnings were placed in newspapers about the need to stockpile a fortnight's store of food.Some suggested that Gaia's response to global warming was that it had decided that humans had to go. Doctors proivded some words of sanity by pointing out how few were dying compared to the incidence of this infected. Old timers warned that the second wave in 1918 had been the worst. Here in Australia, when news of the swine flu epidemic broke out catoonists in the colonial national dailys were elated that the microbes had finally mutated into an infectious disease capable of preferentially targeting corporate hedge fund managers, bundled debt scheisters and the whole host of greedy individuals who conceived the plan that we should glabally socialise risk and privatise profit. TV news reports showed infa-red scanning of airport visitors though most knew the sensitivity and specificity of that test for H1N1 must be minimal.Then allegations began to emerge that the virus had mutated in certain giant pig farms in Mexico where the poor animals were crowded knee deep in excrement and sprayed with antibiotics to stimulate growth. Amidst the din and clamour we watched for the WHO pandemic score as some might have awaited a rise in interest rates by the reserve bank a few years ago. Dust masks and tamiflu began to become scarce in chemists. Warnings were placed in newspapers about the need to stockpile a fortnight’s store of food.Some suggested that Gaia’s response to global warming was that it had decided that humans had to go. Doctors proivded some words of sanity by pointing out how few were dying compared to the incidence of this infected. Old timers warned that the second wave in 1918 had been the worst.

]]> http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2009/05/20/sick-doctors-sick-notes-and-swine-flu-why-coroners-reports-are-so-yesterday/#comment-97 Sick doctors, sick notes, and swine flu: why coroner’s reports are … « Swine Flu Wed, 20 May 2009 21:18:37 +0000 http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/?p=53#comment-97 [...] View original here: Sick doctors, sick notes, and swine flu: why coroner’s reports are … [...] [...] View original here: Sick doctors, sick notes, and swine flu: why coroner’s reports are … [...]

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