Thursday, August 13, 2009

H1N1 Scare


Joe and Ann after getting their respective jabs at the hospital. They had to wait for 7 hours due to a big crowd thronging for medical attention. People are just not taking chances with H1N1.

It has been a rather unsettling week for the family, especially the sibling trio of Naj, Joe and Ann who share an apartment in Bandar Utama.

It wasn't too bad for us three (Pak Abu, Awwa and myself) in Taman Tun although I did come down with the sniffles and a rather severe bout of coughing. Thankfully, yesterday's temperature test proved everything was a-okay.

Some time last week Joe complained of flu. A slight fever then developed, followed by racking coughs. As he got worse, his sister Ann picked up the virus and suffered alongside.

They were still harmoniously sniffling and coughing when the eldest, Naj, got home from outstation, and promptly staked a claim in the misery.

In the meantime, Joe developed breathing difficulties. His asthma acted up and over the weekend he passed out. Luckily Naj and Ann were around to lend a hand. Self-quarantine was ordered and duly adhered to.

Subsequent blood tests revealed no H1N1. Syukur Alhamdulillah for that. One can never be too careful these days. Reports say H1N1 is expected to be around for at least one year - that's a scary thought indeed. It's like having a stalker in our midst. A silent killer is on the loose.

Let's not take this H1N1 scourge lightly. Do our part; wash hands frequently, stay away from crowded places as much as possible, wear a mask, see a doctor for a throat swab if you develop even a slight flu, and get your temperature checked if you feel feverish.

Cut down on your socialising; the parties and cinemas can wait. Drink lots of water too. And have enough rest. Take all the preventive measures you can possibly think of. Like they say - better safe than sorry.


18 comments:

_deli said...

Salam Kak Puteri,

Syukur Alhamdulillah everyone is a ok. Kekadang terasa juga wabak ni (dan perkara-perkara negatif)tak berlaku pada kita, hanya pada orang lain - tapi kita terlupa kita adalah 'orang lain' pada orang lain.

Sama-samalah kita mengharunginya sebaik mungkin.

mamasita said...

Puteri..I sokong!
Never take chances! We do have a 'stalker' going around the whole country working day and night!!
'Stalker yang flew in from abroad'! And never seemed to be tired of frightening everybody in its way!

So glad the Pak Abu clan dah sihat.

Anonymous said...

Madam,

Cough or no cough, you still managed to win the inter-club karaoke competition last week for the Royal Lake Club anyway.

Congratulations.

And may I know when I can start my singing lessons?

Derebar

kay_leeda said...

Dear Kak Puteri,

Alhamdullilah the children are ok. The situation is bad. I was at the clinic yesterday when the doctor revealed that will not be any vaccine available till year end!!!

My worry is for the little children. They go to school and get themselves all exposed. Nissa told me that half of the kids in her class have been asked to stay home. No fun she said, coz many of her friends are not there and teachers are not excited to teach anymore. How lah....sigh :(

Kak Teh said...

puteri, they did look poorly when i saw them last weekend. Thank God they are okay. Thanks again for yesterday and take care.

Bergen said...

You're right about not taking chances, ma'am. Used to think bad things only happen to other people until cancer got me to think different. I forgot that I am the other people - to other people, that is. Deli said the right thing. The last few months I've seen friends dying and getting sick and they were as healthy as anok kambing baru beranok before something like carcinoma did them in. We control nothing in this life. We can be laughing one minute and crying the next minute for something we never imagine would happen to us, or to those close to us.
Really, I didn't mean to sound philosophical he he.

WARIS PAHANG said...

salam 1Malaysia, salam perjuangan, salam perkenalan dan salam singgah

Kama At-Tarawis said...

deli - you are spot on. Sometimes kita lupa bahawa kitalah orang lain to others. Kak Puteri rasa ini satu bala Allah swt. entahlah.

Mamasita - yes, be aware always.

Derebar - awww, tq tq. singing lessons? just come to karaoke lounge and keriau yr heart out.. heheh

Kay - kids should stay away from school sebab they lebih susceptible to H1N1.

Kak Teh - have a good journey home Kak Teh, and do keep in touch.

Bergen - bakper gok dok mari smalang? saya pong rindu doh kat bergen. hope you are keeping well.

WP - selamat menziarah. Apprfeciate your visit...

NanaDJ said...

Salam Puteri,
Glad you all are ok. Just recovered from a very bad bout of flu myself, otherwise wouldn't risk being with Kak Teh & Co today.
Wow! you won the interclub competition, congrats! Poor me, can only croak!

mekyam said...

what a scare that must have been when your son collapsed. thank god it didn't turn out to be something threatening. hope all of your children are on the mend now.

according to this pirate doctor's blog, http://captcalicojack.wordpress.com/, "The mortality rate at the moment is very low (less than a tenth of one percent)...". nonetheless the whole situation is still like "a silent killer is on the loose" as you said.

wanshana said...

Salam Kak Puteri,

Syukur alhamdulillah everyone is ok.

Yes, you're right - we have to do whatever we can on our part to make sure that we stay safe and healthy, however insignificant our actions may seem to others. We've been giving the kids (and ourselves) Multi-Vits, Vit-C, Scotts Emulsion, and continuous supply of surgical masks and hand sanitizer for the last few weeks, and have been keeping them indoors for most of the time. It might seem trivial, but, who knows, these are the things which will keep us safe. We're taking the jabs today, insya Allah.

And we also have to be more responsible citizens. If we were to fall ill, we have to make doubly sure that we do not infect others and just self-quarantine ourselves.

And for heaven's sake, just close the schools already laaaa!

Kama At-Tarawis said...

Nana - tq for the wishes. the win was a collective effort by all Lake Club croakers who represented the club ..hehehe..

Mekyam - for a country of only 27 million, we currently hv 55 deaths. compare this to India with a population of 1.2 billion and 22 deaths thus far.. kalau tengok ratio, memang menakutkan.

Wanshana -govt takmau cause panic by closing down schools but I would rather the kids stay home than take chances..

mekyam said...

dear puteri,

you're so right!

the differential between our death toll and that of india has to give us pause for concern. after all india is not only one of the most populous nations in the world, it's also not one of the most hygienic (to put it respectfully).

apart from all the commonsense precautions each individual is taking, perhaps it's time for the whole country, regardless of faiths and ideologies, to do mass sembahayang hajat.

Tommy Yewfigure said...

Hi Puteri,

Glad to know, all r well at your household.

Looking on the bright side, it’s a timely reality check for us to slow down in our otherwise hectic lifestyles and to be able to spend some quality time to catch up with the other family members, be it playing Scrabbles or having a meal together at the same table.

Take care, follow all those little things u mentioned & hopefully all will be back to normal in no time.

Salam,
Tommy.

Al-Manar said...

Salaam Hajjah
Saya harap yang cemas sudah berlalu dan suasana kembali aman. Saya rasa kalau balik kampong lebih baik. Bawa anak anak semua. Petang petang pergi kepantai tunggu ikan naik (kata orang Terengganu, kalau masih ingat. Bukan ikan naik sendiri kepantai. Samalah macam orang puteh kata ‘I cut my finger’ bukanlah sengaja potong jari sendiri). Beli ‘sekati’ (ingat lagikah apa sekati?) buat balik masak ikan singgang. Makan dengan budu. H1N1 pun lentang pukang lari.Pakcik dan Makcik sihat saja ditepi pantai. Kadang kadang kail ikan sendiri. Panjat pokok nyor ambil nyor muda. Dah suruh anak cucu balik dari KL. Degil. Demam daman disana kita juga yang susah hati disini. Apa nak jadi?
Selamat berpuasa.
Pakcik

Kama At-Tarawis said...

Mekyam - patut sangatlah kita buat sembahyang hajat mintak Allah swt lindung kita dari bala H1N1 ni. Takut sungguh..

Tommy - You are right. we should all just stay home and be with the family.

Al-Manar - Pak Cik, you made me yearn for Dungun all over again. I used to 'tunggu ikan naik' at the 'kuala' those days in the late 60s. We bought them either by the katis (naturally, and timbang pakai dacing still tha time)or by 'longgok', at seria selonggok.

ikan singgang, ikan bakor, budu & ulaman were regular lauk. Meats were festive treats only. the family had a piece of land by the seaside, penuh dengan coconut trees. sapa ler ni saya pandai dehusk buoh nyior.

i am a kampung lass at heart, pok cik. the only thing is payoh lagi ler ni nak balek dudok dungun sebab cari makan di sini. maybe in the near future, i don't know..

tireless mom said...

Dear kak Puteri

Today the mortality rate in M'sia has reached 64. Those are reported cases and I guess as we write, there are other people dying. Spot on, H1N1 is a stalker. Hari tu I sampai dapat nightmare macam in the movies how H1N1 became a pandemic to the world at large. Ada yg buat rumah underground to runaway from it. Nauzubillah.

Matt Kopikarat said...

Kak Puteri..H1N1 adalah hukuman Allah s.w.t Allah menurunkan bala kepada umat yang melanggar perintahnya. Siapa tahu H1N1 banyak memberikan pengajran kepada kita..sama2 kita berdoa supaya dijauhkan dr H1N1.
Deen