As far I am aware everyone who exhibits the symptoms of swine flu - that is 1) a fever above 38c 2) at least 2 other symptoms that include muscle aches/ headache/ runny nose / sore thraot / cough will be offered Tamiflu - presently by their GP service and soon via a National flu line which is about to come into action- look out for information available in the media Tamiflu is more effective the earlier into he illness it is started - it does not cure but it may lessen the severity and duration of the symptoms. Vaccine will not be availale until October at the earliest and the first people to be vaccinated will be health care staff ( this may be the confusion about only health care professionals getting Tamiflu mentioned by a previous post ). I have not been asked to withhold Tamiflu from anyone exhibiting symptoms who fit the above criteria . I have dealt with some callers who are worried they may have swine flu but do not fit the above criteria and probably have a different illness in which case they ar not given Tamiflu . I am happy to try and help answer any questions - but please try and keep this in perspective and I re-iterate that there is no need to panic but It does seem that some areas are more organised than others from what some posts have stated . Seasonal flu kills thousands every year - that is a fact of life - a fact that most of us are probably unaware. This flu may cause a higher death toll simply by the number of people affected not because it is a more serious illness than seasonal flu . We do need to look out for the very young and the very old , although there is some truth that some of our older generation may have some immunity as this was the circulating pandemic flu in 1956- so some of our older folk may have had it then. If you think you have symptoms as stated above then talk to your GP service or NHS direct- stay at home and limit social contacts - take paracetamol in the safe doses and drink plenty of fluids . Wash your hands frequently if you or someone in your household has symptoms to try and prevent spread . Use tissues for sneezes and bin them quickly.Hope all this helps .
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