阿波羅新聞網編者註：在醫療條件和服務發達的美國，都出現這種情形。在中國大陸，如流感爆發，情況不堪設想。即便當局有這種檢驗技術，給誰提供，是個問題。
華爾街日報記者機場染流感 檢測卻碰壁
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聯合報
華爾街日報的聯合國特派記者羅里亞（Joe Lauria）上周因故被困在芝加哥歐海爾機場數小時，並因此感染流感後，一直想搞清楚自己是否罹患H1N1新流感，但即使他因病重在紐約住院隔離了4天，仍是未能如願接受新流感檢測，令他挫折不已，也顯示美國因流感病患太多衛生單位措手不及的亂象。
羅里亞從芝加哥返回紐約48小時後，開端出現肌肉酸痛、咳嗽、打冷顫、高燒不退症狀。他的病情於4月27日嚴重惡化，於是他打電話給紐約協助專線311，問一個簡單問題：他可到何處做新流感檢驗？
沒想到他到處碰壁。311的接線生請他打紐約州衛生局熱線，對方則說先與家庭醫師連繫再說。因為是假日，他未找到家庭醫師，因此他打給一個急診室問是否能做新流感檢測，護士卻是要他打311專線，羅里亞再打311專線，堅持要找地方做檢驗，他才恍然大悟，根本沒地方可做檢驗。
羅里亞於是跑到大醫院就醫，醫院得知他的情況，立即將他隔離，但表示無法為他做新流感檢驗，將以做A型流感檢驗方式，替他排除感染新流感的可能。紐約市傳染病局監督主管魏斯說，因資源不足，當局因此無法讓所有人接受檢驗。
Want to Know if You Have Swine Flu? You May Have to Wait.
By Sarah Rubenstein
With regular tallying of new cases of A/H1N1 swine flu — as of yesterday it had sickened 898 people around the world — you might think it’s pretty easy to find out if whatever you』ve come down with really is that strain of the flu.
Not necessarily. Just ask Joe Lauria (pictured), a correspondent who covers the United Nations for the WSJ. He had muscle aches, a cough, chills and a 102-degree fever two days after being stuck for hours in an airport. So he tried to find out where he could be tested for swine flu. He called the city’s 311 helpline, which told him to call the state health-department hotline, which told him to call his doctor, whose office was closed. Then he called an emergency room, which told him to call the city’s information line. You get the idea.
Lauria eventually ended up at Montefiore Medical Center, where he was put into isolation and recovered. But he still doesn’t know if he had swine flu. Read his full account here.
New York’s capacity to test for swine flu may improve soon, however. The New York Times reports that the city’s semi-secret biothreat response testing lab early this week will be able to determine if someone has swine flu within five and a half hours. Up to now, samples have had to be flown to the CDC in Atlanta for testing to be done. The CDC has sent New York and some other health departments the ingredients to conclusively test for the flu, NYT says.
Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said that the CDC in Atlanta was the only place in the world where testing to determine swine flu was being done before other sites were added recently. Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg was conducting such tests before the new sites were added.
Photo: Corinna Barnard
