By Dr. Joe

The development of penicillin was rightly seen as a great breakthrough in medicine. Fatal infections could now be treated with a “silver bullet.” However in nature nothing is static.  Bacteria have been around for longer than humans and have survived by being able to adapt.

In the 1970’s a term, antibiotic induced diarrhoea was coined – describing a form of diarrhoea that followed a course of antibiotics. This was caused by a bug, resistant to antibiotics called Clostridium Difficile, (as it was difficult to treat.)

Read the full post on A Rusting Silver Bullet.

With all of the attention the media is giving to the swine flu, I think that it is important to fully understand what the major differences are between H1N1 and the seasonal flu. Recognizing these differences could stop a bad situation from getting worse.

From what I have read, one of the differences between H1N1 and the seasonal flu is the occurrence of a sore throat. A sore throat is not usually common with the swine flu. Furthermore, the swine flu will typically have a rapid progression of symptoms. This onset usually occurs within 3 to 6 hours, and is characterized by a severe headache. So essentially one minute you can be feeling absolutely fine, and then the next be experiencing extreme discomfort.

Read the full post on Seasonal Flu vs. Swine Flu: What are the differences?.

In conjunction with President Obama’s declaration that there is a H1N1 national emergency, health insurance companies, including Humana, are taking a proactive approach to covering the vaccine for their members.

Humana recently posted on their website that they are willing to cover the H1N1 vaccine for all of its current members who are fully insured. This benefit is even being extended to those clients who currently have immunization benefits excluded from their coverage.

Read the full post on H1N1 Vaccine Covered By Humana.