months earlier. And luckily, as a clinician, I knew that when my primary care doctor took a rapid-analysis flu swab in her office that came back negative, I nevertheless most likely had the flu. Accordingly, I still took the antiviral medication Tamiflu because I knew it could help
the length or the severity of my symptoms, and crucially, I was very cautious to avoid exposure to those near me by using a face mask and practicing good hand hygiene.We already face many challenges in fighting a common but potentially deadly disease, one that is. One of the most insidious is that many people are often carriers of flu without even knowing it .
Just because you’ve gotten a flu shot doesn’t mean you can’t get the flu, so that possibility shouldn’t be dismissed when you come down with flu-like symptoms. Moreover, the rapid tests utilized in doctors’ offices nationwide to confirm its presence— as they did in my case — reassuring someone that they aren’t infected when the reverse is true.
THINK That is both ominous and terrifying.