The Importance of "Covering Your Cough" in America...and all around the world!!
Good evening everyone,
Tonight, I posted an entry in my own blog that had to do with an old, potential killer bacteria known as Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaire's Disease (a severe form of pneumonia which gives its victims a 30% chance of receiving a visit from the Angel of Death). I wrote about Legionella's symptoms, resovoirs(places you can get it), drug resistance, treatment drugs, and the like. But now, I want to share how Legionella has chosen to strike a very dear, very close family-member of mine: my mother! But also with this story, I would like to share another important lesson to take away-extra brownie points if you can guess what it is by the end of my tale.
This past Tuesday was like any other work day for my mother-a day spent in the outpatient clinic registering the patients when they first come into the clinic; taking information, reading scripts sent over by the patients' doctors, making sure there are no processing errors. The thing about outpatient clinics in America is that while most tend to be a part of hospitals, pretty much anyone (with the right insurance company of course) with any illness goes to them. Why? Well because the fees are lower than if they were to go into a hospital, less time to wait for a doctor (thus more attention from a doctor), more meds are available to get within a short period of time-yes, even in American hospitals, just the waiting time alone (before seeing a doctor) is horrendously long! So in order to avoid the fees and the waiting time, patients with illnesses/non-life-threatening diseases go to outpatient clinics for treatment.
It is generally understood by most of us here in America that one should always cover his/her mouth with either a hand or a hand full of Kleenex whenever coughing or sneezing-of course, there are always young children who don't yet know, or adults with bad manners who break this rule. Well, in kids this behavior is to be expected, but in adults, it's frowned upon (and people show their displeasure by saying out loud: "cover your mouth, I don't want your germs!! ") because it's, well, rude/unacceptable. In fact, I've told many a person to cover the cough!
This past Friday mother came down with runny nose, sore throat and cough, but no fever. However, by Saturday, she was SICK!! I of course attributed her symptoms to the onset of yet another Streptococcus pneumoniae infection-after all, she will get it twice in any given year! I watched her but by Sunday, her fever got up to 102F and she had this very productive, "hacking" cough; the cough where you're hunched over and your chest hurts because of this! This is when mom started talking: "Oh Heather, I can't believe how terrible this shit is this time around! I don't feel like I'm getting any better-I need some drugs! " ("drugs" being Penicillin). I casually asked her: "Well mother, what are the patients coming in sick with?" She replied: " I can't believe how I get all the sick ones! On Tuesday, one walked in with Legionella and coughed in my face-I actually had to wipe the nasty droplets off my face; another walked in with..." by which I stopped her mid-sentence with: "Legionella?! Stop right there! This happened on Tuesday, and the person COUGHED in your FACE??" And during this time I was counting the days in my mind: "Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...oh God!" I turned and I said to her: "Mother, let's go, I'm taking you to the hospital, because Legionella will basically give you a more severe pneumonia than you already have and it will more than likely kill you if you don't the right antibiotics for it-and Penicillin won't do it either. You will get sicker from this point on!" Mother then looked at me with a scared look on her face and then told me the story of the Legionella patient who had come into the clinic this past Tuesday (the patient had "Legionella pneumophila" written on the doctor's script), literally coughed in mother's face (because she was too badly mannered to cover her mouth!) while I drove mom to the hospital.
When we got into the hospital, the doctors gave mother a drug that dilated the bronchial tubes and alveolar sacs in her lungs (so that she can breathe without coughing and spitting up), asked her and me questions about what she had (I of course providing most of the answers for mother because the doctor was not believing that mother was exposed to such an old, "uncommon" bacteria like Legionella). We spent a total of 4 hours in that hospital with mother laying flat on her back in the emergency room before we went home for her prescription for the antiobiotic (macrolide group) Zithromax.
Mother has been home resting these past couple of days and I've been worried to say the least-the antibiotic is only starting to work. She's still coughing a lot but she is able to sleep. I keep thinking about how much sicker (or possibly dead) she would be by now had she NOT told me about the Legionella patient and/or I did not already know as much as I know about Legionella as well as a cousin of it (a bacteria that causes the same delayed, strong immune response but with such a higher magnitude that this bacteria I work with is actually considered a potential bioweapon!) Scary, isn't it?? I think so. Again, I'm scared for my mother and I hope that she will pull through this soon! So with this I will close. What do you think the lesson is in all that I've said? Regardless of what you walk away with upon reading this post, take care and may angels protect you, may sadness forget you. As always, I welcome your thoughts. Have a good week everyone!
Best wishes,
Heather