Rhiza Labs FluTracker Forum

COOPER: As of tonight, more than 41,000 Americans who have been infected with the H1N1 or swine flu virus. Maybe you know someone who's come down with it. We do. Our very own Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Our chief medical correspondent got the virus during a recent trip to Afghanistan. Sanjay said it was the sickest he's ever been. He joins us now to talk about it, as a physician and a patient.

Sanjay, first of all, how do you feel now?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I feel fine now, Anderson. And, you know, it's worth pointing out. You and I talked about this while we were both in Afghanistan. And you were quite sick, as well. And I'd come to find out later on that H1N1, the swine flu, as it's called, was circulating quite a bit, Anderson, in the area that we were in.

COOPER: Really? No one mentioned that to us. At least not to me.

GUPTA: You know, frankly speaking, we can talk about this now via satellite, but there's a good chance, based on what I'm hearing, that you also had H1N1 virus infection.

COOPER: Well, because I -- I mean, I had similar symptoms to you. I was -- the cough was the worst cough I've ever had, and it, like, even hurt my heart while I was coughing. And I went to you, and you were really sick. And I asked you, "Is it possibly it's swine flu?"

And you said, "Probably not, because usually swine flu has a very high fever right away."

GUPTA: That's right. And, you know, it's interesting because I think the next day, I think, maybe you had gone to a different province. And I was feeling miserable the next day, and I hadn't checked my temperature. You know, you're in the desert, and it's hot outside. I hadn't really thought about it.

I went there, and my temperature was around 102 degrees. So, you know, pretty high, certainly, for me, 98 being normal, 98.6. So that was the first sign. And then, you know, I had that same cough that you did, the light-headedness, and I was freezing cold. I don't know if you had that, as well.

COOPER: Yes.

GUPTA: That was really the most memorable part of it. I was freezing cold despite being in the desert. Are you coughing right now?

COOPER: I'm still coughing, I will say. Just a little bit.

GUPTA: I heard that. Yes. I have a little bit of a cough, as well. I don't think we're contagious, though.

COOPER: I love that I just learned that I may have had swine flu from you via satellite.

But what was it like? I mean, it was -- for you, you said it was the worst sickness you've ever had?

GUPTA: It really was. You know, I don't get sick very often. I mean, I can't remember the last time I was sick. I don't remember the last time I had the flu. But this really floored me.

I think the day after you and I talked about it, the next morning I was trying to get out of my sleeping bag. I could barely take a couple of steps without feeling really light-headed. And again, those just profound chills and shakes, despite the fact that it was over 100 degrees outside.

And then, when I went to the -- I went to the clinic, the role -- it's a Role 3 battlefield clinic. You know, they gave me some IV fluids, because I hadn't eaten in a while. And they also did the swab for the flu.

And at first it comes back as the flu-Type A, which is sort of a broader category. And it took some time for the confirmation test to show that, in fact, it was H1N1.

COOPER: See, I did not have a fever, so I'm hoping that means maybe I did not have it. Is that something -- should one get it checked? I mean, we're talking about what, something that happened two weeks ago. GUPTA: Right, you know. And some would argue that you don't need to get it checked now, and maybe you don't -- I didn't need to get it checked then.

What we know is that H1N1 is circulating around the word. You mentioned how many cases have already been, Anderson.

And what most doctors have told me, most infectious disease doctors, is that the testing really doesn't matter, because you're not going to do anything differently based on that testing. It is the flu with a different name.

So, you know, if someone is sick, they might get decongestants. They might get medications for their fever, but most of it is just going to be supportive care. Just like that.

Children and pregnant women do seem to be more at risk, and these are two groups that the CDC and other infectious disease doctors have sort of been targeting and are targeting specifically for the vaccine.

COOPER: I took two rounds of antibiotics for, like, two weeks, and I'm still on something right now for, like, an inner ear infection. Is -- do antibiotics have an effect?

GUPTA: You know, probably not. This is -- excuse me -- a viral infection -- excuse me.

COOPER: It's just getting worse and worse.

GUPTA: I have great news for you. You know, we have viral infections, and you have a -- I know you really trust me now. But you have viral infections, and you have bacterial infections. And bacterial infections -- we're both coughing. It just cracks me up.

Anyway, bacterial infections are treated with antibiotics. Viral infections, if caught very early, can sometimes be treated with Tamiflu. But you know, you have to take that within the first 24 to 48 hours.

COOPER: Which I hadn't thought about coughing today, and I've been very good. And now, of course, you mentioned it, now I feel it.

GUPTA: Talking to a doctor, yes.

COOPER: Well, I'm glad you're feeling better. And so you're no longer contagious, right?

GUPTA: That's right. I mean, they usually say the first couple of days of worst symptoms. A few days after that is when you usually stop becoming contagious. I made sure that -- in fact, that's part of the reason I stayed home from work for a few days after I got back. And, you know, like I said, I feel perfectly fine now. A little bit of this lingering cough, but I feel fine.

And you feel OK now? COOPER: Yes. I still have the cough. But, you know, they told me -- yes. I don't know, maybe I'm going to get it checked. Let's see.

Sanjay, thanks, I think. I'm not sure.

HILL: The entire studio says...

COOPER: Sanjay wrote about his bout with swine flu -- I also didn't take any days off. So I hope everyone -- everyone else isn't sick around here.

HILL: Nah.

COOPER: It's a very great read. It's on our blog right now at AC360.com. Sanjay, thanks. Glad you're better.

GUPTA: Thanks, Anderson.

COOPER: Let's get caught up with some other stories. Erica Hill joins us with a "360 Bulletin" -- Erica.

HILL: (COUGHS) Just kidding.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/ ... cd.01.html

Both almost certainly had H1N1. Gupta had a fever, Cooper did not, so Gupta was tested and H1N1 confirmed while Cooper is still coughing two weeks later and has no confirmation of his H1N1 infection.

Commentary

Fever Free Swine Flu in CNN's Anderson Cooper

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/09240 ... ooper.html

Television doctors are talking a lot about swine flu these days, but now one of television’s most high-profile physicians can offer a first-hand account.


Dr. Sanjay Gupta says he contracted H1N1 in Afghanistan. (Scott Gries/Getty Images)CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports that he contracted the new H1N1 virus while in Afghanistan. On his “Paging Dr. Gupta” blog he writes:

It started as a cough…. This was the kind of cough that hurts when you do it. A stinging pain that makes you wince and guard and hope that you don’t have to cough again any time soon.

Although he felt feverish, he wrote it off to the desert heat. But the next day, he felt nauseated and his body ached. He continues:
I woke up in my dusty desert tent and tried to step out of my sleeping bag. Two steps later, I almost hit the deck…. This was due to my own body simply being unable to hold myself up. I was lightheaded and freezing cold – even though it was over 100 degrees outside at that early hour of the morning.

Dr. Gupta says his illness was later confirmed to be the novel H1N1 virus. He and his camera man both had high fevers, sinus congestion, body aches and a hacking cough.

Although Dr. Gupta says it was “the sickest I’ve ever been,” his treatment wasn’t extraordinary. Tylenol and decongestant relived his symptoms, and he was given I.V. fluids when he couldn’t keep liquids down. He says that after the first few days he felt better and was back to normal a few days later.

It was a lot like… the flu – with a different name. A lot of people will get the exact symptoms I described above, and for most people, it will simply mean a few miserable days, hopefully spent in your home – and not in a war zone.

Read Dr. Gupta’s full report, “I went to Afghanistan and all I got was H1N1.” And Dr. Gupta also believes CNN’s Anderson Cooper also came down with the same flu, even though Mr. Cooper says he never had a fever. (Reports from Mexico show that even though fever is an important symptom, many cases of swine flu don’t include fever.) You can watch their discussion on the video below.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/2 ... swine-flu/

MSM starting to spread the message?

The population is largely of the age that has proven susceptible to the virus, there is a transient work force that is constantly bringing disease in and out of the region, and the medical resources - while state of the art - are finite.

"I can't prove that it's here, but I suspect that it's here. Afghanistan has already recorded some novel H1N1 cases, so we can assume that it's here," said Lieutenant-Colonel Ron Wojtyk, a Canadian military surgeon and the head physician at the base's NATO hospital.

People who live within the wire confines will tell you that there is a bad bug going around. Those who fall ill develop a fever and a cough, the defining symptoms of the pandemic H1N1 virus.

The epidemiological program used by NATO forces around the world has shown no increase in the incidence of influenza. But medical workers say they are seeing more people with respiratory infections.

"We don't have the testing capability here to determine whether it's the novel strain [of influenza] or not," Dr. Wojtyk said. "We have sent samples of some of the cases of H1N1 that turned our quick test positive for Type A influenza [to Germany for verification] but we haven't got any positive results back. That could be because they were not in fact novel 2009 H1N1. Or it could be that the samples just didn't make it intact enough to render the test positive."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/wor ... le1295102/

Sanjay Gupta just did his Sunday morning sgement and described his experience with being infected by H1N1. However, he also answered an e-mail on why swine flu is called H1N1 and me just perpetutaed the media myth that "swine flu" is incorrect and was replaced with H1N1 when it was discovered that the swine flu had genes from swine, human, and birds.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact that the swine flu was a triple reassortant was known from the begining, as was the fact that triple reassortants are from swine. The sequences are actaully called H1N1 swl and the swl stands for swine-like.

The name change of swine flu to H1N1 had NOTHING to do with science. It was ALL political, based on concens that govenments would kill pigs, and/or consumers would stop eating pork.

The conbimnation of human, bird and swine flu genes has been ciurcualting in SWINE since the 1990's, which is why it is called a swine virus, media myths notwithstanding.

It would not be the first time Gupta is wrong. Thank goodness he's not our Surgeon General.
When will one be appointed, anyway? I vote for MKey.

GUPTA: It's time for my favorite segment of the show, "Ask the Doctor." Today we're taking your questions on something you've been asking a lot about, H1N1.

Let's dive right in. Matt writes this, "I thought diseases like this are generally named for their country of origin. Why do we call it H1N1?"

Great question, Matt. A lot of people asking about this. There has been a lot of confusion about this. Now here's the deal. The name actually has nothing to do with the location. The virus was first referred to as swine flu. That's because initial lab tests showed the strain was similar to the one that's normally seen in pigs.

The researchers later found the virus actually has genes from birds, humans and pigs so the name was changed to the more accurate H1N1. Now swine flu is a bit of a misnomer as you just heard.

H1N1, the letters actually refer to the types of proteins found on the surface of a virus, namely hemagglutinin, as you can see there. That's the H. And neuraminidase, which is the N. And the number 1 refers to the specific sub-types for each of these proteins.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/ ... sg.01.html