A Swine Flu Scare

I absolutely hate getting sick. There is nothing worse than coming down with a sickness that is unwanted and unexpected. Getting sick from someone who you know is already sick is not as bad as contracting a deadly virus in a national pandemic. After a long weekend in Cholla Bay, Mexico in Rocky point, we packed up and drove home in time for class on Monday. This vacation was in April 2009. On the drive home, I realized that I was getting a bad sore throat and that I was beginning to become sick. As soon as I got home, my sister ran to me and said, “Hey did you hear about the swine flu? It is killing all these people around the world right now”. I responded, “No? What is the swine flu? I do feel sick?” I thought for sure something was wrong and that my life was in serious danger. My sister suggested that I should go to campus health and get tested to see if I have it. I quickly went online to check the Internet to see what the symptoms were. According to Webmd.com “The Novel H1N1 or “swine flu” is a new influenza virus causing illness in people. This new virus was first detected in people in the United States in April 2009. This virus is spreading from person-to-person worldwide, probably in much the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread. On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization signaled that a pandemic of novel H1N1 flu was underway. This virus was originally referred to as "swine flu" because laboratory testing showed that many of the genes in this new virus were very similar to influenza viruses that normally occur in pigs “swine” in North America. But further study has shown that this new virus is very different from what normally circulates in North American pigs. It has two genes from flu viruses that normally circulate in pigs in Europe and Asia and bird “avian” genes and human genes. Scientists call this a "quadruple reassortant" virus.” I looked at my computer screen in disbelief as my symptoms matched the ones on Webmd.com. I quickly called my buddy Blake, who had just dropped me off to head up to Tempe to make his class he had to attend. “Hey man, can you cruise back here and give me one of those “B-12” shots you got from Mexico”, I said. He ended up sticking a sharp needle in my ass as while he injected the Vitamin B Complex into my bloodstream. It was very painful and blood started squirting everywhere as I pounded a full Rockstar Energy Drink. After he left, I went directly to campus health to see if I had the H1N1 virus. The employees had me put on a facemask so that others wouldn’t get sick if I really did have the virus. The nurses and doctors were more nice than usual—as I sipped the ice cold Gatorade that the nurse gave me. Then before I knew it, there was a q-tip that was longer than both of my index fingers put together. She forced the gigantic q-tip straight up my nose. It hurt so badly, I thought that the q-tip was poking my brain. After what felt like a lifetime, the doctor pulled the q-tip from out of my nose and took the sample to test to see if I test positive or negative for swine flu. I was so scared for my life; I don’t think I have prayed harder in my life. The doctor finally came to inform me of the results after thirty minuets or so. The results came out negative for H1N1, which was the best news anyone had ever told me. This was a very scary moment in my life because I did not know how bad it had spread in the United States and throughout the world. I was very fortunate to get rid of the sickness that I had and move on with my life. Human infections with the new H1N1 virus “swine flu” are ongoing in the United States today, but the media says that the worst is yet to come this fall. Most people who have become ill with this new virus have recovered without requiring medical treatment. Today, the H1N1 Vaccine is available at vaccination clinics for those who are applicable. Unfortunately, Three people have died already in Pima County, which means that everyone needs to try to stay away from sickness as much as possible!