Mysterious Influenza?

[jimmythegreek]

I have noticed a lot of people sick in Santo Domingo with this illness...

A lot of coughing and phlegm....like a virus or maybe just some change in the weather here..the cooler temps?....

I have been around-exposed to a lot of these people, but never seem to contract whatever it is...

Which makes me think it could be another mosquito virus.......As I was exposed to Zika virus in 2016...maybe it is another outbreak of that and I am immune due to antibodies.......Just guessing....

 

[Seamonkey]

It's all over the north coast as well. It took me about 4 weeks to get over it completely.

 

[jimmythegreek]

It's all over the north coast as well. It took me about 4 weeks to get over it completely.

I can not figure out how I have not contracted this as I have been around family members and in meetings with people choking and coughing like crazy spreading their germs all over...I can only think this is not air born.

 

[Seamonkey]

Maybe your immune system is really strong at the moment. It felt like my chest was full of crap and I couldn't cough it out. I had no energy and a very sore throat.

I contracted it coming back from Santo Domingo on Caribe Tours mid December.

 

[jimmythegreek]

Maybe your immune system is really strong at the moment. It felt like my chest was full of crap and I couldn't cough it out. I had no energy and a very sore throat.

I contracted it coming back from Santo Domingo on Caribe Tours mid December.

That explains it-Seems this is all over the Capital for weeks now. Even then, I get the sense this is a potential further outbreak of a mosquito born virus.

 

[AlterEgo]

It’s all over everywhere in the US, I’ve been coughing almost 3 weeks. Probably came to DR with passengers on various flights.

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

It's not a mosquito virus, it's the Flu. N1H1.

Big scare re this virus (Swine Flu) back in 2009. Same virus that caused the 1918 outbreak but not necessarily the exact same strain. Anyone who received the specialized N1H1 Flu vaccine that year may still enjoy some degree of immune system protection that can lessen the effects of this year's outbreak.

Those who get flu shots every year or every second generally fare better than those who do not.

 

[jimmythegreek]

It's not a mosquito virus, it's the Flu. N1H1.

Big scare re this virus (Swine Flu) back in 2009. Same virus that caused the 1918 outbreak but not necessarily the exact same strain. Anyone who received the specialized N1H1 Flu vaccine that year may still enjoy some degree of immune system protection that can lessen the effects of this year's outbreak.

Those who get flu shots every year or every second generally fare better than those who do not.

Interesting...Probably this is case...BTW......I have had zero flu shots and for years.......Maybe it is the coffee that I am drinking that is providing immunity, but now I have probably jinxed it......

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

The best thing you can do apart from staying away from sick people is to wash your hands often. People touch their face or rub their eyes/nose on average 2000+ times a day. The flu primarily enters your system via the mucous membranes of the nose and throat as well as by way of the eyes.

Stop touching yourself. With the Flu virus remaining viable on the surface of objects that people routinely touch for many hours hand washing is a big help after touching money and objects that the general public uses frequently like door knobs, toilet flush handles pens at the bank etc.

 

[keepcoming]

Have it and it is crappy...started like flu, fever, chills, etc..then turned into a kind of bronchitis. Now with never ending coughing. Cough so much and now it just hurts to cough. Drinking a lot of liquids (tea, water, juices) seems to ease the coughing a bit and scratchy throat. It has been going on since a bit after the Holidays, Went back to the US due to my father passing away and caught it during that time. Doctor says he has seen people continue with the cough for 6-8 weeks. Ugh...

 

[Matilda]

Had it - think I contracted it on the bus from Punta Cana to Santo Domingo as guy coughing, spluttering and spitting next to me and wiping his hand on the seat. Lasted 3 weeks, high temp at the beginning, coughing, not eating and I slept most of the time.

Matilda

 

[barooosk]

caribe tours gripe

Maybe your immune system is really strong at the moment. It felt like my chest was full of crap and I couldn't cough it out. I had no energy and a very sore throat.

I contracted it coming back from Santo Domingo on Caribe Tours mid December.

This is a separate issue. Contacting gripe (a cold) after taking a trip on Caribe Tours is to be expected.

 

[barooosk]

caribe tours gripe

Maybe your immune system is really strong at the moment. It felt like my chest was full of crap and I couldn't cough it out. I had no energy and a very sore throat.

I contracted it coming back from Santo Domingo on Caribe Tours mid December.

This is a separate issue. Contacting gripe (a cold) after taking a trip on Caribe Tours is to be expected.

 

[bob saunders]

Interesting...Probably this is case...BTW......I have had zero flu shots and for years.......Maybe it is the coffee that I am drinking that is providing immunity, but now I have probably jinxed it......

During my wife's 12 years of living in Canada the only year she got the flu was the year she got a mandatory flu shot ( job requirement). I haven't had one since 2011 and I haven't got the flu yet, knock on wood.

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

For sure sitting in a sealed tube of conveyance for several hours with sick peopled scattered throughout, greatly increases the likelihood of you getting sick.

When you are sick you are supposed to stay home and get better. These days, people go to work, go on vacation, send their sick kids to school, as if almost relishing the opportunity to make someone else feel as miserable as they do. Damned tourists who brought H1N1 here this year.

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

For sure sitting in a sealed tube of conveyance for several hours with sick peopled scattered throughout, greatly increases the likelihood of you getting sick.

When you are sick you are supposed to stay home and get better. These days, people go to work, go on vacation, send their sick kids to school, as if almost relishing the opportunity to make someone else feel as miserable as they do. Damned tourists who brought H1N1 here this year.

I'm starting to get sick. The only place I've been for quite a while is the bank and the grocery store so I must have caught whatever this is going to be because someone was wondering around when they should have been in bed.

 

[lifeisgreat]

I have had the dreaded cough with phlem , especially when you lie down, couch ,bed ,gets nasty, North Coast a few friends have it now also and spreading...over 2 weeks with me Flumix from pharmacy helps nite time...

 

[mountainannie]

I have noticed a lot of people sick in Santo Domingo with this illness...

A lot of coughing and phlegm....like a virus or maybe just some change in the weather here..the cooler temps?....

I have been around-exposed to a lot of these people, but never seem to contract whatever it is...

Which makes me think it could be another mosquito virus.......As I was exposed to Zika virus in 2016...maybe it is another outbreak of that and I am immune due to antibodies.......Just guessing....

The mosquito viruses - such as the 4 types of dengue (cheer up - you can get all four types and getting one type only makes you MORE susceptible to the others - (that may be street lore - wait for DV8 to confirm) and the dreadful Chikungunya (which lasted for me about 5 years!) will manifest not in your chest but more in your joints - with high fevers and rashes.

There are lots of diseases/germs etc - that exist down there which most of us "outlanders" have little resistance to - (do they get the Flu vaccines down there? There seems to be a new one here in the USA every year + one for pneumonia ...

You are lucky if you have not gotten sick when all around you have -- but -- well - do not worry - you will probably catch something the next time!!

(I'd also advise folks to take things a bit more seriously down there than they might be used to. I fell and scraped my knee and thought I was taking care of it just fine but it did not seem to be healing. In the end, by the time I went to the doc at Clinic Abreu ((my first and only go-to place)) he had to put me under general anesthesia to clean it up)...

 

[mountainannie]

Here is the site to check for various outbreaks -- yes - it is the H1N1 - going around --

https://www.who.int/influenza/surveillance_monitoring/updates/latest_update_GIP_surveillance/en/

 

[mountainannie]

and to be mindful that it can be fatal for some -

https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/influenza-(seasonal)