The flu has struck and men are crying

Jul 18, 2010 Features / Columnists, My Column

All over the country over the past few weeks I have been talking to people who sound as though they have either been doing something with their throat or they have something pushed up their nostrils. Many of those I happened to meet either have red rheumy eyes or a bad case of the cough. And even the cough seems to be so horrendous that they clutch their chest and bend over.

I am not sure how long this thing started but during the past two weeks a lot of my friends developed these symptoms. To a man –and woman—they all cried “flu”. And I understood because there was a time when I was a candidate and the recipient of every flu virus that came along.

In the 1960s I got hit by what was known as the Hong Kong flu. I never found out whether the flu originated in Hong Kong or it got the name because of the proliferation of Chinese movies that were shown then.

These were the karate movies such as Enter the Dragon, Praying Mantis, The Jumping Master and Kung Fu. Everything that came to the cinema appeared to have been Chinese so it was no surprise that Hong Kong flu came.

The next year there was the Asian flu and it was equally bad. Since those times there have been all kinds of flu, some of which never came to Guyana. There was the Avian Influenza or Bird Flu and Swine flu. I am not sure, too, whether, Guyanese actually died from the flu that came here but I do know that many bodies were so wracked that people prayed for death.

Speaking from experience, I know of times when even opening my eyes was a major chore. The mere sunlight was cause for headache. My taste buds took a vacation and my stomach simply rebelled against food. I was skinny then and when the flu left me I was no more than a bag of bones.

The flu is back. This past week some members of my staff simply collapsed. They started sniffing and sneezing. Then they coughed and suddenly, there was the fever. They had got married in a union from hell.

Glenn Lall, the man who owns this newspaper and who is often so aggressive that one would believe that nothing would faze him, was reduced to a baby. He could not even get out of bed and being a man who can’t seem to remain in one place for too long it was a surprise that he had no objection to lying in his bed and moaning.

I know from my few treks to the United States that the authorities always ensure that they place announcements in the various newspapers and on television advising people to get their flu shots. In Guyana there is no such programme. I know that we imported millions of dollars of Swine flu vaccine but whether we had cause to use them is another matter.

I heard of people going to the various hospitals in their numbers and to the pharmacies, but the experts all say that there is no cure; that the flu has to run its course. It usually lasts for a few days and it spares no one.

Amazingly, babies and very small children seem to cope better than adults. I have seen sick little children and I remain amazed at how well they react. Yes, they are cranky at times but I look into their eyes that tell a whole story and apart from some bouts of crying, they bear their trials. Women are slightly better but the men are the worst.

Adult men cry out for everything. They want more attention that the babies and Glenn Lall was no different. I heard that people were asked to remain by his bedside all the time. He wanted water, then soup then a massage then to be covered. When last I heard, he wanted to die.

On a serious note, Guyanese have developed immunities to almost everything, from salmonella typhi to some poisons. It must be the water they drink and the food they eat. Indeed, visitors who try to drink water from the taps in the city are confined to the lavatory and bed. With homegrown Guyanese, no such thing.

There is on record, the first time the Europeans brought the flu to these shores. The story is that they came into contact with the Amerindians and the flu spread like wildfire. It decimated entire villages. That is not going to happen again because the natural immune system is going to fight anything like flu.

That may be the reason why the authorities never worry about flu shots and things like that. Yet it would be interesting if the Ministry of Health would issue warnings because this time around, the flu has developed into a pandemic.

Mark my words; this would be followed by conjunctivitis or red eye or pink eye. I am simply going to take a few shots of alcohol to safeguard myself. I have found that to be the best remedy. I am also going to avoid crowds and people who sniffle and sneeze too much.

One thing, though, the flu has brought some peace to many. I never noticed but it struck the most talkative and the most disgusting people. I hope that they took a vow on their sick bed. He who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Further I say not.