Hilary's Desk

Two weeks ago, when CDC, po-faced told us, that this “new” virus, never seen before in pigs…, was a combo of Eurasian/America swine flu/avian/human viruses, you believed them, right? Now, they are back tracking, saying, “No no,no.. only pig. Not human or bird.” Shhh…..  Read Full Blog

Bouquets to the Health Department for finally waking up to the fact that their infection protocols are ludicrous. We hear on the news tonight that they are concerned the infection could spread like wildfire through doctors surgeries! Well, hello??!!! Do they think that doesn’t happen with ordinary flu, all the time? Do they honestly believe that in “normal” times, doctors’ surgeries are a model for a Savlon advertisement? Don’t they realise that doctors’ surgeries are always, the ultimate pathogen liberation centres?  First Brickbat:  Trying to use hotels and motels to isolate patients, is plain silly. But it would appear that the Department of Health are “reinventing the wheel” at last. Just let everyone know where the “infection hospitals” are please, and DON’T make them part of ordinary hospitals. Read Full Blog

How's your day? Full of humour and irony? No? Well, let me make your day for you, or stuff it up, depending on your perspective. Consider the irony and illogic from the reportage team who wrote yesterday's New Zealand Herald articles on the swine flu. Let me join a few dots for you, following on from yesterday's blog serve. Read Full Blog

We have very strange habits. Like: refusing to wait in doctor's waiting rooms, unless we're the first there in the morning. Refusing to take our patently infectious sick children into waiting rooms, or doctor's surgeries and wait there.  "What???" I hear you screech.  "How irresponsible is that???"  Quite the contrary.  The current medical system which encourages sick people to sit in their waiting rooms has created a culture of contamination and complacency, which one day, might return to bite them.  And you. Read Full Blog

The Sunday Star Times has a magazine called Escape in which their regular medical columnist, Dr Paul Trotman, pontificates on a diverse range of medical issues. He is known for his vigorous denouncement of anything thought to originate from, or be, “anti-vaccine”. His latest contribution however, is remarkable for the utter stupidity of opening the mouth prior to opening the brain. Apparently, comments about overcrowding being the biggest “cause” of meningitis are dismissed as some “attitude” of anti-vaccination people. The column reads:  Read Full Blog

The Health Department Gardasil poster for parents takes the Goebbel’s propaganda award to brain-wash parents. (You might want to click on “Gardasil Poster” and print this out before you read the rest of this blog). It should surprise no-one that the Health Department has learned nothing from the MenZB campaign. As usual, we don’t need to know anything other than their “desired” messages.  Read Full Blog

One of the societal tools used against those who chose not to vaccinate is the “don’t come crying” line. Read Full Blog

You remember all the paranoia about that pandemic cash-cow called bird flu? You remember that the New Zealand humoured whatsisname... Rumsfeld??   ... who profits gazillions from the company that makes Tamiflu, by buying a few million dollars worth of a useless drug, which wasn't necessary, and is now well past it's use-by date? Well, don't hold your breath, about either the value of Tamiflu, or whether Bird Flu will naturally find it's way here any time soon, or that any vaccine with be worth having. Read Full Blog

As the UK medical gestapo proclaim 1,000 measles cases a national disaster, and go after parents who have refused to vaccinate their children against measles, there is an interesting "discussion" at the BMJ website. Peter Flegg, an infectious disease specialist has made some extraordinary claims. That's nothing new. He's done that at the BMJ for years. For those who want are keenly following the UK situation, here is the debate. Read Full Blog

Dr Robert Wachter runs a blog which is well worth adding to your regular reading list. His Bio shows that he’s well qualified to talk about many things, and does so with a degree of candidness you don’t see in this country. A recent blog which interested me was the possibility of putting cameras into hospitals to try to raise the inadequate hand washing amongst staff. It would appear that since many nurses and doctors don’t appear to be motivated to wash their hands, some consider the answer is “Big Brother”. Anyone trained by the medical profession 170 years after hand washing debates started, who doesn’t think washing their hands is important needs their heads looking at. Read Full Blog