A visit with the pharmacist

I'm ill, down with the usual, a bronchitis, came on very quickly last week, no clouds before the storm, it just hit, wham, and I was out of the classroom on Friday.

So what are our options when sickness strikes?  And how do you distinguish between the usual and of malaria?

There are certainly more options here than in the States.  If there is an emergency, one can call on the Senegalese equivalent of EMS, referred to here as SOS Medicin.  SOS is manned by physicians, who are able to diagnose your malady and prescribe meds in your home.  It is not limited to life threatening emergencies, as in the States, but any situation in which immediate care is desired. I might have called on Thursday afternoon, were it not for the fact that I have no idea how to describe our street address.  

An alternative is to consult your local pharmacist, who is able to prescribe meds based upon your description of symptoms.  A doctor's script is not required to receive so-called prescription drugs.  By example, we have a lovely modern pharmacy just down the street from us, run by an English-speaking pharmacist, with whom I met on Friday morning.  No appointment, no line, just walk-in.  

For our physician friends, the pharmacist gave me four things:  a vitamin C tablet that fizzes like Airborne; Fervex,  a granulated antipyretic, analgesic, anti-allergy, to be mixed with hot water;  Roxithromycine, an antibiotic manufactured in France;  and Aerius, to treat allergy.

Total cost:  about $30.  Total time in the pharmacy:  about 15 minutes.

There are, of course, physicians in private practice, and several hospitals with whom you can arrange clinic appointments.  We will eventually establish a relationship with an English-speaking GP, particularly when it comes to ruling out malaria, or other aggressive and unfamiliar diseases/symptoms.

There is even a mobile lab that will come to your home, do a blood draw, test for malaria, and report the results a few hours later.

There are a whole lot of bugs and allergens here with which this poor old body is unfamiliar.  Being preventative, and responding immediately when feeling unwell, will be key.  This illness came on very quickly, the symptoms more severe than usual, and I'll certainly need a few days to get my strength back.