FIghting H1N1

Walking up to the main building early in the morning this week, my eyes chanced upon a fever-free sticker stuck on a leaf of a plant. I couldn't help but smile at this unique sight that was before me that day. It reminded me of a battle that we are fighting everyday, of which has more or less become part of our daily work each day ( after 3 months of fighting our enemy).

Fighting this battle entitled- H1N1 is not easy. While the world outside is decreasing their alert after research shows that the virus has not mutated into something stronger, the fight in the hospital world has not let down. For one, we deal with a great number of high risk patients who cannot afford to be infected with the virus. Temperature screening for staff are still ongoing and visitors to the hospital are also limited. The toughest of all must be the fact that all staff have to wear their masks continuously throughout as long as they are in clinical areas. Hand hygiene has been stepped up, and of which has also claimed a good number of victims. Many of us suffer from chapped and dry skin. A common sight after each wash would be dry fissure lines across the palms and fingers that would stretch painfully when extending our 5 digits out. I've seen colleagues who suffer from contact dermatitis as a result of frequent hand washing using potent cleansers. In one particular case, her hands are a sight of erythema, edema with serous oozing and of cause, pain and itchiness. I particularly feel for her because it is not only obvious loss of aesthetic sight and suffering but also very dangerous for her as many diseases and conditions can be spread through the loss of the epidermal barrier (broken skin).

The fight may be still on. But I want to thank the many unsung heroes out there who have braved through all the uncomfortable masks, PPEs, handwashings resulting in contact dermatitis, inconveniences that resulted from all the extra barriers to ensure a safe environment for all, parents/spouses/self who have to use special detergents to wash our uniforms after every wear, scoldings from relatives who do not understand the reason for all the inconveniences and yes, our internal auditors who have stepped up their rounds to ensure that everyone complies to our battle plan formation and strategies :)

This video is dedicated to all of you out there. Hope it brings a smile as it did to mine. And may it remind us of the very reason why we are still fighting this war together. Esp to those working in neonatal department in SGH, pediatrics in NUH and KKH, may this video remind you of the high risk kids that we need to protect against this deadly enemy we fight!