H1N1

China has taken the H1N1 strain of the flu very seriously, which seems to have made international news a few times. They placed the mayor of New Orleans in week-long quarantine for a mild fever. They quarantined an entire hotel in Hong Kong for a week. And they claim to have negligible cases. The argument is whether the quarantine is truly working, or whether they've set such high standards that we've all been forced to lie. Arguments for both below:

Pro-Quarantine: No Swine Flu in China
We received communication from the girls' school this afternoon regarding the flu. We are under strict instructions to quarantine our children for 7 days if:
A: they show signs of the swine flu, as verified by a doctor
B: they return from visiting another country
C: 2 children in their class has the swine flu
The entire school will close for 2 weeks if they have to quarantine 2 of their classes.

This is serious business. These rules came straight from the Chinese government, and the school has no choice but to enforce them. Further rules have been enforced at hospitals and clinics for months. Before being allowed to enter a hospital or doctor's lobby, everyone must have their temperature taken. If anyone shows a fever, they may not be seen by the doctor. They are routed immediately to a public fever clinic, where they are to be screened for the swine flu and pumped with antibiotics.

Anti-Quarantine: Swine Flu Flying Under the Radar in China
Trouble is, we're all scared to death of those fever clinics. I include our doctors in the category of scared to death. One family doctor explained how to drop their body temperature in order to fool the front desk thermometer-ist. Ice water and air conditioning - lots of it. As this flu is not killing an inordinate number of people, it seems likely that folks with the flu are just staying home in China and quietly recuperating. That the swine flu has shown up, but continues to fly under the radar.

To their credit, I must admit that China has very few (possibly no) reported deaths from H1N1. Maybe its working. As an added bonus, preschoolers in Shanghai are much less likely to be spreading fevers around this year!