Shanghai Expat

Family Life and Kids - watch out: if your kids have high fever and need to see Dr's
Portsmouth - June 28, 2009 - 10:24 PM
Post subject: watch out: if your kids have high fever and need to see Dr's
Hope you all have learned that if your children have flu symptoms (fever, particularly) and need to see a doctor at places like Parkway Health, the clinic can no longer see your child if your child has a fever > 38C. In that situation, you have to go to one of the "fever centers" (a bigger, centralized hospital where all high fever patients go) - I have heard some described the fever center is crazy/crowded like a zoo.

Following was what I figured out (and was told): To make sure your child will be seen at their regular clinic, take fever reducer 1 hour or so before the appointment so that at the moment when they enter the clinic, their fever is not >38C. All people, including parents, entering the clinic will be promptly taken temperature at the entrance.

I'm not a follower of, "a rule is meant to be broken." However, I could not agree with how patients are being treated in China: I cannot imagine bringing my sick children to a fever center for hours and hours wait and expose them to countless chance of crossed infections. I think a healthy person will get sick after hours of torture at a local fever center; a sick person will get really sick!
shawnstevens - June 28, 2009 - 10:55 PM
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can't agree more!
Andreas - June 28, 2009 - 10:58 PM
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Yes, absolutely right. Would do the same thing.
RussianBear - June 28, 2009 - 11:40 PM
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Portsmouth, sorry for off-topic, is your rug from Beijing ?
shawnstevens - June 29, 2009 - 12:47 PM
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My poor baby just got a fever of 102.2 this morning and I called her doctor at SEIMC and they told me exactly the same thing! Take her to fever center! I don't know what to do now but I hate to bring her to those place with all the other sick people! She has no flu sympton at all just a fever from nowhere. What should I do? I will give her some Tylenol!
Cambronne - June 29, 2009 - 01:07 PM
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Agree with this. Remember China's healthcare policies are designed... for China, to prevent massive loss of live due to epidemics etc. and disregards some side effects like a few kids getting sick from wasting at crowded hospitals in poor conditions, or kids dying from taking uncalled for stronger medicines (typical problem for kids diagnosed with benign heart problems - who get out on heavy treatment originally designed for very sick adults - 100s probably die from this every year and it gets blamed on "their sick heart").

So my point is its perfectly ok to use a trick to bypass the rule...

Note that the insane WHO guidelines for the flu doent help and is also based on a political agenda - to fuel pharmaceutical firms revenue and in the longer term help with population control (think AIDS).
Portsmouth - June 29, 2009 - 10:50 PM
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Shawnstevens,

Really sorry to hear your situation! Do you know any doctors well? Try calling him/her directly for advice . . . foreign doctors understand the situation well so many of them are sympathetic. PM me if you want to know who my kid doctors are.

The clinic cannot see your kid because . . . if they break the rule to see any patient with > 38C fever, and later the patient confirmed to have swine flu, the government will take away the license of the clinic.

Two more tricks I use:
1. bring the kid to clinic before they get very sick
2. ask doctor to prescribe antibiotic ahead of time and only use it after hitting pre-agreed condition with the doctor; also should call the doctor before actually giving the medicine to the kid
Note, I would not do the above two things if I am outside of mainland; but to avoid bringing sick kids into fever center is my top priority so I have to think creatively.

Good luck to all kids and parents!
kpmautner - June 29, 2009 - 11:19 PM
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Chinese public health policies are designed to ensure the bureaucrats will not get blamed if anything goes wrong. After the way they initially botched the SARS thing, and got into lots for trouble for it, they are massively overreacting to the swine flu.

My sister works in a clinic in the US. They have seen a lot of swine flu, and they found it's less severe than other flu strains that went around earlier in the year. Remember, 2-4 strains of flu go around every year, millions get them, and thousands die (mostly the elderly), and it gets very little press. Swine flu is just another one of those, but it has a catchy name and lots of organizations have latched on to it to get in the press or to prove they are useful.
Andreas - June 29, 2009 - 11:40 PM
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kpmautner wrote:
Chinese public health policies are designed to ensure the bureaucrats will not get blamed if anything goes wrong. After the way they initially botched the SARS thing, and got into lots for trouble for it, they are massively overreacting to the swine flu.

My sister works in a clinic in the US. They have seen a lot of swine flu, and they found it's less severe than other flu strains that went around earlier in the year. Remember, 2-4 strains of flu go around every year, millions get them, and thousands die (mostly the elderly), and it gets very little press. Swine flu is just another one of those, but it has a catchy name and lots of organizations have latched on to it to get in the press or to prove they are useful.


You are absolutely right, exactly my thoughts about this.
Klick - June 29, 2009 - 11:49 PM
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Andreas wrote:
kpmautner wrote:
Chinese public health policies are designed to ensure the bureaucrats will not get blamed if anything goes wrong. After the way they initially botched the SARS thing, and got into lots for trouble for it, they are massively overreacting to the swine flu.

My sister works in a clinic in the US. They have seen a lot of swine flu, and they found it's less severe than other flu strains that went around earlier in the year. Remember, 2-4 strains of flu go around every year, millions get them, and thousands die (mostly the elderly), and it gets very little press. Swine flu is just another one of those, but it has a catchy name and lots of organizations have latched on to it to get in the press or to prove they are useful.


You are absolutely right, exactly my thoughts about this.


I understand what you are both saying, and don't entirely disagree, but here is my fear: from what I understand, the majority of adults who have died/become quite seriously ill or those with underlying illness such as asthma. I am mildly asthmatic, it's normally not a big deal but last November I was knocked on my arse by a chest infection that put me out of commission for a good 6-8 weeks. It was pretty hellish. So I really worry that if my daughter becomes 'routinely' ill here and develops a fever, and I have to take her to one of these fever clinics because, well, there is no other option, what am I potentially exposing myself to?
OhDannyBoy - June 30, 2009 - 12:00 AM
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^I'm not sure, but (and take this with a grain of salt, I ain't no epidemiologist or nothin') it seems pretty clear at this point that we're all going to get the swine flu at some point or another. I don't know what China is thinking...Well, I suppose I do know what they're thinking and it's idiotic.
kpmautner - June 30, 2009 - 05:51 AM
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Klick is right to be concerned, but that should apply to all strains of the flu. The one nasty thing about the swine flu is that it seem to be able to cause one's immune system to over-react more than most flu strains, and if you have asthma (which is something like an overactive immune system already) the results can get serious.

Another odd thing is that is very similar to a virus that went around in 1958 or so, so people born before then are relatively more immune to the current swine flu. So this one affect younger folks more that the elderly, the opposite of most flu strains.

But all that said, in most cases it is less severe than some of flu strains that went around earlier in the year. Normal flu precautions are warranted, people in moon-suits hauling passengers off planes into week-long quarantine is not.
freedelia - June 30, 2009 - 06:45 AM
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FYI, Shanghai United will take people with hugh fevers. You will have to call in advance and they will be ready for you, people in masks will take you a back room and you will stay there until it is confirmed you do not have swine flu.
iara - June 30, 2009 - 12:13 PM
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I also received an email from a doctor here, foreigner explaining what we should do in case of fever. He told the same: take Tylenol, reduce temperature and to call him, so clinic will let you in, and he will already know that you/child had fever and will see you without making any fuss.
But this is because he is foreigner and understand ours fears here.
But I'm not sure if this is with agreement of the clinic or not.
I would do the same, I wouldn't expose my son in a fever clinic here or anywhere!
hammerforlife - July 03, 2009 - 07:39 AM
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freedelia wrote:
FYI, Shanghai United will take people with hugh fevers. You will have to call in advance and they will be ready for you, people in masks will take you a back room and you will stay there until it is confirmed you do not have swine flu.


Yes that is true. Had to take my son there last night with a very high temperature so we checked before that they could see him without being carted off to some fever centre. All was fine so if you can afford their prices Shanghai United is an option.
BONNIE - July 03, 2009 - 08:10 AM
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Hope your son is OK !
hammerforlife - July 03, 2009 - 08:23 AM
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Thanks! Kids with fevers scare me sometimes. He went from lying motionless with a temperature approaching 40 last night to waking me up at 4am this morning asking me to read him a story once the drugs had kicked in.
leonard_moon - July 03, 2009 - 08:43 AM
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FYI
Fever classification levels: °C, °F
low grade 38–39, 100.4–102.2
moderate 39–40, 102.2–104.0
high-grade 40–41.1, 104.0–106.0
hyperpyrexia >41.1, >106.0
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