Job Discussion Forums

[AbeCross]

I wonder if this figure is also an understatement?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27686037

[2buckets]

Undoubtedly!

Anything that makes the kingdom look bad is spun.

[2buckets]

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-28044151

"The exact source of the novel infection is still uncertain, but camels are a prime suspect."

Don't be lovin' them camels Ahmed!

[LPKSA]

Not BSing here.

Just got over this flu. It is NO joke. It crept up on me with a bout of watery eyes and sneezing. Thought it was just an allergy.

Went to the doctor when my ears started to hurt. They prescribed eye drops, for my ears. I asked why they prescribed eye drops and they said it was because the doctor didn't specify eye drops or ear drops, just the medication which is found in both kinds of drops. ?? This brought the pain the ears down, and I thought everything was fine.

A week later, I was feeling a bit tired, but thought it was just due to the heat and having walked around outside for an extended amount of time. Then the sore throat started. I went back to the doctor when the headache came on. He told me he was not going to prescribe antibiotics, just an antihistamine and ibuprophen. I went back to the same pharmacy that prescribed me the eye drops for the ear aches and they said "here are your antibiotics." I asked her why she was giving me something the doctor said he wouldn't give me and she just said "This is what is on the script, take it, it should clear it up. Come back if it does not."

I went home, took the medication, nothing happened, it got worse. I went back to the doctor again, and he looked in my ears, and said to keep taking the medication.

I went back home, continued taking the medication, and went to sleep. I woke up at about 11 pm, thinking it was about 3 a.m., and my head felt like it had exploded. I felt like my ears were in the process of being stabbed. Oral and nasal cavity were both in severe pain, all the way up to the ears, and down the throat into the lungs. I could not breath regularly. My heart rate had increased. I felt like my lungs were collapsing. I stood up and thought I was going to fall over. Then there was the explosive (abnormal bodily function that begins with letter d) that would not stop.

I went back to the doctor the next day and he said "oh, here, take some antibiotics. I didn't prescribe you antibiotics because I wanted your body's regular immune system to fight this off, so now, here are some antibiotics." I told him that the pharmacy had already given me antibiotics and I showed him what they had given me. He looked at it and said "this isn't antibiotics. It's anti-inflamatory." I was getting really just pissed at this point.

He wrote up antibiotics on the script and sent me back to the pharmacy. I went back and they said "antibiotics, here you go." I was so pissed at these people by this point. I took the tablets, went home, and called out sick. I did not sleep for a while, then passed out. I woke up again, there was no effect. It was the worst flu I had ever experienced. I would not wish this on my worst enemy. I thought I was going to die. I honestly thought to myself "this is it. I am not going to be alive much longer." So I call my dad in the US, a doctor, and explained to him what was going on. He told me to get myself to the ER immediately. This was insane. My heart was beating like mad. All of my joints ached. My head felt like it was beaten in by a cricket bat. My ears were bleeding. Felt like I had swallowed razor blades. Nasal and oral cavities felt like someone poured acid inside them. Dizzy and dehydrated, I went to the ER, and was quarantined. They put me on an IV, monitored me for about 8 hours, pumped me full of something, I don't know what it was. And took x-rays, blood samples, nasal and oral cavity swabs. I thought I was going to die. They said that they weren't sure what it was, and that the tests would reveal as soon as they get the results back. After eight hours, I was discharged.

I need to go back to the clinic tomorrow to see what they came up with. I called my dad, told him what I had been through, explained my symptoms to him. He is convinced that I caught this. He also told me that with this kind of virus, you can catch it but not show evidence of having it, in that there might not be enough of the virus in your body for it to be detected, but it can still be there.

As of right now, my heath has improved rapidly. When I breathe in though, I feel nauseous. Probably because of blood in the stomach. Still coughing up brown mucous and blowing dried blood from my nose. Other than that, breathing is back to normal and the headache is gone, although there is still an intense ringing in the ears. I am 6 kg lighter and pale. A few people have told me this morning I look very thin. No ****, I just survived the worst flu of my life.

I don't know what's going on here and they aren't sure what the cause of this is, but let this be a warning to anyone out there. IF YOU ARE FEELING ANY SYMPTOMS OF THE FLU, GET YOURSELF TO THE CLINIC/HOSPITAL/ER IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT WASTE ANY TIME. THIS HAS A 30% MORTALITY RATE, APPROXIMATELY THE SAME AS SMALLPOX. THIS IS NO JOKE. TRUST ME.

I just want to add, I share a villa with someone, and asked him if he was feeling any symptoms. He told me that he was feeling fine. So this whole person to person contact thing could be a hit or miss. I don't know. I do recall being at a traditional Saudi restaurant in Downtown Riyadh a week before these symptoms came on. Maybe that was it. Other than that, I do work for a hospital, so...

[nomad soul]

Moreover, the flu is caused by a virus. Therefore, antibiotics are totally ineffective unless there's the presence of a secondary infection that turns out to be bacterial.

[The Fifth Column]

Congrats on getting better and posting your symptoms.

P.s. A "traditional Saudi restaurant" is a rug in the desert...likewise, "traditional Saudi" food comes from Turkey.

They haven't lifted a creative finger in a millennium.

[SirAristede]

LPKSA, it's good that you're rapidly improving! Alhamdulillah! What a terrible ordeal! I certainly hope that Western experts in Saudi can determine the cause of MERS ('cause the indigenous medical folks sure ain't going to figure it out...)

[scot47]

"Western experts in Saudi" ? In medicine ? There aren't any, unless you extend "Western" to include Egyptian, Indian and Pakistani.

[LPKSA]

[scot47]

In my 17 years in KSA I met many - but I challenge the use of the term "Western experts". Most medical practitioners in KSA are local or from the Middle East and Asia.

[johnslat]

Flawed Saudi Response Is Cited in Outbreak of the Middle East Virus MERS

By BEN HUBBARD and DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.JUNE 29, 2014



http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/world/middleeast/flawed-saudi-response-fueled-outbreak-of-mers-middle-east-virus.html?emc=edit_th_20140630&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=22183462&_r=0

Regards,
John

[betacygnus]

This virus has been around, or at least known, for about 2 years. When a new virus appears, especially if it jumps from an animal host to humans, the initial cases/epidemic can have a high fatality rate as the virus is a totally new form, and the human hosts have no prior exposure with the same or similar viruses, and therefore no resistance whatsoever. The only "good news," if it can be called that, is that over time, the virus often mutates and changes and newer, "milder," less lethal forms emerge.

My experience is similar to that of LPKSA. I live in KSA not far from Al Ahsa / Hofuf, the epicenter of the disease.

I developed a scratchy throat on the evening of Tuesday, May 20, and woke up with it the next morning. I went to work and, by lunchtime, had a pounding headache, a raw, fiery throat, head-to-toe muscle aches, nausea, and an uncontrollable, non-productive cough and shortness of breath ... I felt like I had swallowed acid, been run over by a truck and was laying in the road with an elephant sitting on my chest. My employer didn't seem to care, but, shortly thereafter, a concerned colleague called for help. I was dumped off at the front door of the hospital by a company secretary who seemed annoyed that I had interrupted his day, and I staggered into the hospital, barely able to walk and collapsed at the front desk. I was rushed into the ER where I spent the afternoon laying on a gurney with a breathing apparatus pumping Ventolin into my lungs. I was never tested for MERS, even though I had all the symptoms and severity. When I mumbled through the face mask and asked the doctor about "coronavirus," his response was that it wasn't coronavirus because I didn't have pneumonia, "just" bronchitis. His diagnosis on the discharge papers was "bronchiolitis." Of course, if you check the specs on "bronchiolitis," you will see it mentioned that coronaviruses are a major cause. I was discharged later that day and spent the next four days barely able to crawl out of bed. Fortunately, I had plenty of food and bottled water to get me through it, as nobody from work so much as bothered to check up on me. It took weeks before I stopped "feeling kinda' strange," and even now, two months later, I still tire more easily and experience some shortness of breath when climbing stairs.

Here's my advice and some more information:

1. If a respiratory bug hits you hard and fast, especially if it's NOT during the usual "cold and flu" season of autumn and winter, DON'T MESS AROUND ... GO TO THE HOSPITAL OR TO A DOCTOR.

2. DEMAND to be tested for coronavirus (MERS) ... the doctor may be under "pressure from outside sources" not to test everyone who presents with symptoms, so as "to keep the numbers down."

3. Realize that there are cases of coronavirus which are no worse than a cold or mild flu, and there are cases which are fatal. There are also people who carry the virus but who are asymptomatic.

4. Just like SARS, the origin of the virus and the vector are not known.

5. Fortunately, I have excellent health insurance and live in a major city with access to top-quality hospitals. Be extra cautious if you live in a smaller or more remote area.

[veiledsentiments]

[The Fifth Column]

My Saudis REFUSE to use the term "MERS"...almost as if they've they've been ordered not to do so. Whenever I use the term, MERS, many are quick to chime in with "coronovirus"!

As if ANYTHING negative could emerge from the "Middle East"..rs.

[veiledsentiments]

And the teacher in me would immediately inform that of the fact that the name of the condition is MERS and coronovirus is a rather useless, non specific general term for a giant family of virus.

But then, I am one of those Americans who actually pronounces the "r" in February and has spent her life correcting people. (me and Don Quixote)

VS