Doctor Bloggs was not easily convinced that Swine flu existed. However two months ago her partner succumbed and hasn't been the same since. Internet searches showed the major symptom is coughing
"More wheeze than sneeze".
Swine flu was all too convenient - Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer Department of Health, was about to retire and needed to top up his pensions, hence he was buying shares in Glaxo and telling everyone else to get vaccinated. Roche could not sell its out-of-date and ineffective Tamiflu, and swine flu vaccine was on the shelves before the germ was officially identified. GPs argued about how much they should be paid for vaccinating people with an untested vaccine. Dangerous work, someone might die at the end of their needle.
Doctor Bloggs change of heart comes from seeing her partner succumb to the effects of the virus. An Alfie coughed all over him on the tube six weeks ago, and Dearly Beloved hasn't been right since. His wheeze is as bad as a chain smoking coal miner with pneumoconiosis. It seems people whose immunity is compromised are most at risk, not that there was anything wrong with his immunity. However his symptoms are made worse by bread and flour
"The Whiter your Bread, the sooner you're Dead" (Arbuthnot Lane, 1913).
Dearly Beloved is finally recovering - as long as he avoids gluten, wheat and flour. A recent relapse was triggered by a gluten free loaf containing cornflour.
Wheeze means allergy and in Dearly Beloved's case it seems to be an allergy to bread in all its guises. And the cure - not cheap but definitely effective. A tot of brandy before he goes to bed and the better the brandy, the more soundly he sleeps.
"A dash of brandy comes in handy"
What does this mean? Swine flu seems to a virus triggering an allergic reaction to a common item of processed food. Keep healthy, exercise regularly, avoid processed food and find the cause of your wheeze. Difficult if you are young, apparently-fit, and dying on intensive care from an unrecognised, hypersensitivity reaction?
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