Just did the symptom checker on NHS direct - for symptoms which I would normally consider a common cold its says swime flu !

[CaptainUnderpants]

Just ran through this for DS2 who has no temp , a runny nose and ear ache ( prone to ear infections, etc) and a bit of a cough.

Now normally I would put this down to a cold but the checker says he has swime flu ! WTF !

I really dont understand there is not ttmperature and other than that he seems OK.

II am very about this .

If in normal circumstances I went to the Gp with this they would say common cold surely ?

Do I traet is as swie flu , keep him off until school breaks up , cancel his birthday party , take time off work , stop my other child going to school etc for a common cold ?i

I would be too, and I am very cautious!

High temp (with quick onset) is one of the key features of any kind of flu, so if he is okay on Monday, I would carry on as normal.

Thanks good thinking nicky.

I am surprsied by the fact that it marked No for temp but it still came back at swine flu .

I have just done it again , as an experiemnt , with no temp and no symptoms and it still comes back as swine flu !

What a totally waste of time and money !!!

No wonder ther are so mnay cases of 'swine flu' about !

Ds1, ds2 and I all had swine flu.

The thing that sets it apart is the vomitting and dihorrea (sp). Now I never had dihorrea nor did ds2 but ds1 did. ds1 never had as high a temp as me, ds2 had the vomitting but no cough in fact he was fine the following day. I am still stuck with the most annoying cough ever. It is waking me up at stupid hours of the morning have been up 2 hours now.

Just treat it how you would a common cold and cough, thats what i was advised.

I understand about the treatment as common cold but its other peoples perception of it being 'swine flu' and the 'exclusions ' that go along with it .

I had flu during the 99/00 'epidemic'.
Dear God, it was horrendous. Came on quickly and knocked me sideways. It didn't last very long, but was different from a cold in that I couldn't eat and was very hot.

SOunds like the NHS website is useless Captain. Talk about covering themselves! Everyone with a child under 7 would be in clinical isolation if you were to follow those guidelines.

Lady, glad you are all better now. Horrid thing, flu.

Captain, I know what you mean. My sister went mad at me because ds1 had it but we didn't know! we had gone out and within an hour of arriving at the place we went he threw up, and was hot but i put it down to excitment and the weather. On the monday he went to school but on tuesday he was poorly again and so was i.

The thing is this swine flu is not life threatening IF treated properly. Keep an eye on any temp, keep hydrated etc.
It is airborne and therefore we are all going to get it anyway. Whether from someone we live with have close contact with or just travelling on public transport. It is everywhere now.

Nicky, I had bad flu in 1996 god was i ill, i was almost hospitalised. I was hot, couldn't eat, could barely lift my head at times.....jeez this swine flu was a walk in the park compared lol

Thanks Lady, will keep an eye on him.

I have had flu and I was laid up in bed for over a week and it was like being hit with a sack of potatoes, totally out of it.

Those NHS guidleines/check list is bloody useless. You're right about arse covering .most kids at this time of year are completelt kanckered by end of term and therfore come down with various complaints . No wonder most of the schools have swine flu if they follow that checklist !

I had flu durng the 1999/2000 epidemic too and it was horrible, was vomiting as well, Drs were a bit worried i had meningitis

Flu makes you feel VERY ill, not just a bit snuffly

LOL you are right it does give swine flu for any answer

Helpful then

I've just done the symptom checker too and been told to see the GP for swine flu. I am 99.9% sure I have a virus. I've had normal flu before and like people say, I could not move from my bed, and I am no where near that ill. I'd like to know though if my chest infection does get worse how on earth i will get a doctors appointment?

What really pissed me off about the symptom checker though was the amount of opt outs they included that they couldn't possibly be held responsible for any info given out and you should always see your doctor if in doubt etc etc. So basically the whole site is a total waste of time and only serves to make the GP bottleneck even worse, with surgeries full of the worried well panicked by the latest front page story from the DM and now this website.

Yep! GP diagnosed me, and the monsters with swine flu yesterday Again btw, they also did it some time ago . We still have a cough today but are fine, so I'm very dubious.

I used that thing, once in told me it was just a cold and another time it told me to dial 999 right away. We are all still alive even though I ignored it and just went to the GP the next day.

and this is why there are currently "thousands" of swine flu cases in the UK

'cos most of 'em are really just a common cold, like we all get, every frickin' year

the media and the NHS are handling/reporting this very irresponsibly, IMO

I've done the symptom checker and it's useless - I've had a sore throat, followed by cough, followed by streaming nose - but no temperature and not feeling hot & shivery.

I've carried on going to work and we're going on holiday tomorrow - but if I believed the symptom checker I've got SF and should isolate myself. I'm sure I'd have felt worse if it really was SF.

DD2 and Dh have had the same symptoms as me - we think it's just a cold and not a particularly bad one at that.

They're going to shut down the whole country at this rate, it's pants.

yes, and lots of people are going to isolate themselves un-necessarily

schools will be closed, parents will have to take time off work to care for them

the whole country will grind to a halt soon and that is bollocks for our already crap economy

I also think there will be quite a bit of "sickie-throwing" ie lazy bastards taking time off work just because they can, and who is to check/prove otherwise ? "OH Dear, Boss, I have SF, I cannot possibly come to work for the next 10 days...."

Well my Ds who was diagonised as swine flu this morning on symtom checker , when I started this thread, has just done two hours of football, his ear ache had gone and just has a few sniffs and is completely normal!
As normal a 6yr old can be !

Media and NHS have done a wonderful job so far with all this

Lol! Inspired by this thread I tried the symptom checker and I have sf too! I've had a cold, no temperature, no sickness, didn't feel too bad really just a normal cold. There is no way in this world I have any type of flu.

The problem is it lumps in normal cold symptoms (cough, sore throat, runny nose) with swine flu symptoms (high temp, tummy upset) so it's diagnosing everyone with a sniffle as sf - fecking useless.

According to the symptom checker my cat also has SF Shall I call the Daily Mail and warn them it's jump species - it must be true the government agency says so.

It is interesting reading this thread. I am currently in bed, having been knocked sideways by something or other. NHS symptom checker told me Tuesday evening it was SF, as did out of hours gp, yet next day my gp refused to give me tamiflu unless I went to the surgery!!!! I refused, as was told NOT to go to GP's, so got no help, had high temp, runny nose, chills, body aches - but no real cough or sore throat. Spent next 2 days vomiting and with the WORST headache ever - still high temp, no food - so ill, just couldn't move, and still my GP said come to surgery - eventually ended up at Emergency GP at A&E, who by that time could not be sure if it was SF - as temp was coming down!!! I am pretty sure it was as I have only ever been that ill once, and it was when I had flue years ago - but how can they miss/ignore an obvious case yet treat many many uncertain symptoms! Hopefully I am on the mend now - have actually got out of bed today - such a relief!