Wednesday 5 July 2017

Whooping cough...

Apparently, when I was a tiny little chap, I had whooping cough, and my pram and my cot took a bit of a battering...

A lovely chum told me yesterday that there seems to be an underlying increase in cases of whooping cough. She had an awful time with it a year or so ago. She's much younger than me - at least a generation, and as we're a group of mates meeting regularly, we'd noticed how 'down' she was for much of the time, but being a real fighter, she dealt with the problem in her own way.

Several other pals are now showing similar symptoms, and it's been recognised as a local 'Hack', but an implicit discussion is emerging which may prove that the immunisation we kids got some years ago, is wearing off, and symptoms are returning in a few other ways.

My chum eventually got over it, but claimed that a couple of teachers at her children's' school had been coughing for weeks, and one went to get checked out properly. She was diagnosed as having the whole damn lot, and put up for a cure a.s.a.p.

While 'conspiracy theories' will always be around for just about everything, this issue is a bit worrying, because once the politicians get hold of it, the NHS will get bashed even further, and undoubtedly another layer of expensive management will be created, just to deal with the condition.

On a happier note, my chum was cured by the technique of altitude conditioning. Her dad had a PPL, and hired a plane to take her up 10,000 ft for a spell, and from then on she recovered! I'd never heard of this before, and checking it all out, back in the seventies, there were regular forays into the phenomenon, and they had a lot of success!




10 comments:

(ntdw) rvi said...



So NTDWI then. What a relief!

When I was a tot in me cot I caught a nasty dose of the measles which affected my eyes and blinded me for about 3 weeks. I vaguely recall being in my blue cot and a visiting doc gently trying to pry open my eyelids which had become stuck together. Great relief all round apparently when I eventually opened my eyes and my first words were "Hallo mummy" (or so my gran told me several years later!).

By the way... http://scottonpinkneyblogspot.blogspot.my/... how long have you lot been hiding in here - and what happened to the rest of the villagers? Asking for a friend.


Thud said...

You may be onto something there, with 4 young uns I've noticed a return and increase in frequency of various ailments. I'm not sure what's happening but I've a nagging feeling somethings not quite right.If you have access to fbook let me know as good to connect via there.

Macheath said...

If you'll forgive me recycling from the archives at my place, this is from a piece describing how my son ended up with a nasty case of whooping cough...

I warned the primary school that the Urchin - then 6 - had not been fully vaccinated, having suffered an adverse reaction to the first dose. However, I arrived one afternoon to find him sitting next to a friend who - to my certain knowledge - had been diagnosed with whooping cough the day before.

It turned out that the doctor had told the boy's mother that, as long as he was taking antibiotics, he could go to school 'as all the other children there will be immunised'. His mother, anxious to get back to work, happily dropped him off at school the next day, despite his constant coughing.


The result of this attitude has been to produce a constant reservoir of infection in schools and playgroups which, if you are right, could potentially cause immense damage in the wider population. What is surely needed to protect public health and reduce the spread of contagion is a return to the practice of quarantine - or at least the old rule of thumb about staying at home for 24 hours after the obvious symptoms have gone or the antibiotics have kicked in.

However, with the vast majority of UK mothers going out to work, I'm not holding my breath.

Scrobs. said...

Reevers, at least you recovered and can still join us all here for the banter!

I had similar measles, and it damn well hurt too. I fully recall the eyes seizing up, and thinking at the time 'Sod this for a game of soldiers'!

As for Scotton Pinkney, our esteemed host just pops back, starts it all up, and the goes away to The Maldives in the Wayfarer Deluxe, only to reappear a year later...

Bunty doesn't appear at all now, Hitchens is dead and Modo and Fuller and the rest are all sleeping on duty!

It's a bugger and no mistake, but I'm so glad you noticed my friend!

Scrobs. said...

Thud, that worries me, as such silent epidemics can easily slip through the system before some politician gets hold of the interest, and makes an issue, then causes a panic.

Email - never mobile as; 1) No signal and 2) no Bookface account, so '2ndmktx (att) gmail (dott) com' always gets to me...

You probably know me as 'Michael', but to chums it's always Mike, unless I've upset Mrs O'Blene, and that's not my surname either...

How's the guitar coming on? I just love seeing how much work you put into it all! It looks a fabulous machine, and I was even thinking of buying Brian May's book on 'The Red Devil' after seeing what you've achieved!

Scrobs. said...

Macheath! The Legend! I thought you'd disappeared some time ago, so welcome, welcome!

The 'school' philosophy smells of administration and turmoil. My lady chum knows much more about it all, and seeing how nothing is being done, you wonder if they need an epidemic to coincide with the next Brexit discussions, to divert attention. Cynic; me?

My lady chum is thankfully full of beans now - as well as being petite and sparkling, but if schools are going to react to political dogma in the face of medical advice, then that really is worrying.

Mothers going out to work is an attendant issue, as is absent fathers, and I'm probably not expert enough to make any comment other than 'saw it coming'...

Thud said...

Another gtr post tomorrow! you should think about having ago, not much pricewise and a bit of a head scratcher on occasion.

Scrobs. said...

Will watch with interest, Thud!

I think Mrs O'Blene will say 'enough is enough' if I try and make another one though...

I have a Spanish guitar in the roof with a sunken bridge, and although I've rebuilt it once before, I'd like to make it work again for my grandchildren, so that's a thought.

My Yamaha electric has stiffening controls, so maybe a squirt of WD40 may help, but as I don't have an amplifier any more, I can't practice with you online any more, which is a pity...

Scrobs. said...

Had a chat with the lovely girls at our local chemist today.

They were genuinely interested in the theory on whooping cough, but clearly hadn't seen or heard of any 'movement' on the subject...

(To them, 'movement' means a totally different subject, and the gleam in their eyes widens at each splutter...)

They're absolutely gorgeous - I love them all, especially the blonde one, and they're all blonde...!

A K Haart said...

It's odd if parents really are underestimating serious ailments, because they seem to smear kids with sun cream as soon as the sun comes out. Maybe they focus on the wrong things.