The Cockroach Catcher Archive: 流感:雙城記

那是最美好的時代，那是最糟糕的時代

雙城記查爾斯·狄更斯

In the Guardian a few days ago an article attempted to look at the contrast between London and Paris in terms of the Swine flu Pandemic and the cities' responses:

“Today, we seem to be experiencing A Tale of Two Cities in reverse when it comes to swine flu.

“On Thursday, the British government fired up a special swine flu website, designed to ease the burden for doctors and hospitals. It crashed within minutes as millions rushed to log on.

“On the same day in France, government introduced a change similarly aimed at helping the health service. People who believe they have swine flu are being directed to their general practitioner (GP) rather than the emergency room of the nearest hospital. The change was introduced without a murmur.”

The question was asked as to the difference in reaction between the two countries:

Swine Flu figures: UK: 100,000 VS France: 793

Population: each with around 60 million people, and are of similar prosperity.

And Britain and France are also neighbours, linked by all sorts of ties. You would expect a wave of flu in Britain to head across the Channel at some point and show up in France. Yet it hasn't happened yet.

The speculations:

“Britain is more accurate than France in reporting the number of people with swine flu.

“But I for one am dismissive of this, given the excellence of the French health system (regularly ranked in the world's top three) and especially its alert system.”

“Are the British genetically more susceptible to swine flu than anyone else?” Perhaps not.

So assuming the data on both sides of the Channel are accurate, the Guardian article continued:

-- Britain was merely the first country in Europe to experience swine flu on a massive scale. The wave will eventually hit continental Europe with the same magnitude.

-- The massive spread of swine flu in Britain can only have occurred through patterns of contact that are not the same as in France.

-- The British government's flu awareness and prevention campaign didn't work for some reason.

“Finding out what happened is essential, as it will help flu experts to understand how and why flu propagates and how to better advise the public about how to prevent infection.”

The answer may indeed be elsewhere:

New H3N2 flu variant detected in HK

Medical science in Hong Kong is a match of the best in the world and ever since SARS in 2003 they have not been complacent at all.

衞生防護中心總監曾浩輝表示，本港發現變異的 H3N2流感病毒，源自布里斯本流感病毒。而目前本港出現的季節性流感， 43%屬 H3N2流感， 49%屬甲型 H1N1流感。

曾浩輝又說，今年的流感疫苗配方，包括針對布里斯本流感，及對 H3N2流感，可發揮交叉保護作用。他建議高危人士，包括患有慢性疾病、長者及幼童注射。