Okay, I’m fully aware that by this stage, a lot of people will be utterly sick of hearing about swine flu, what with it being thrown into headlines in true ‘Everybody Panic’ style every few minutes, or when we get bored of the ‘current economic climate’, whichever comes first.

It's a flying pig, so it's kind of like swine f.. oh, forget it

However, the difference in my case is that I’m one of the apparent infected, and have spent the last few days waiting for plague doctors to paint a cross on my door, and start the chants of ‘unclean’ shortly before attempting to set the house on fire.

Swine flu (or, to give its formal title, ‘influenza A H1N1) is apparently slowing in it’s spread. According to the Direct.Gov site, at the time of writing, the number of new cases is depleting (see sidebar comment).  However, there’s always the possibility that people just aren’t bothering to register it, or can’t get through on the phone lines.  It’s a lot harder to track now that the advice is not to go and see a doctor to confirm the cases.

The Health Protection Agency estimates there were just 30,000 new cases of swine flu in England last week. This compares with 110,000 cases the week before – a clear indication that the rate of infection is slowing.

..which is nice.  I’d been joking to colleagues at work about how it’d be a nice excuse for a week off work, and that you never actually knew anybody who’d directly got it, just that bloke who’s the window cleaner of their mothers aunts uncle… and then I managed to get it.

From a personal perspective, Swine flu isn’t fun.  From quite slight beginnings (Thursday morning started with a sore throat) the symptoms appeared quickly, including the delights of a massive temperature, headaches, aching joints – pretty much what the government advice suggests, but in reality it hurts a hell of a lot more than it sounds like it should.

Of course, you can’t specifically state it’s swine flu.  All you can do is fill in the online form or try calling the official swine flu hotline on 0800 1 513 100 – answer the questions correctly and you’ll be rewarded with flashing lights, the room filling with streamers and confirmation that you may have swine flu, along with an ID number which you need in order for your ‘flu friend’ (somebody who can go and pick up your medication who’s not infected) to pick up antivirals in the form of Tamiflu.

On top of the standard advice, a personal tip is to take lots of hot baths.  It seems to help keep your temperature to a steady slow roast rather than feeling like you’re you’re being cooked on a high heat.

Personally I decided against taking the antivirals, seeing as in reality all it supposedly does is decrease the time it takes to recover by a day, and to my mind it makes more sense to allow your body to try and fight it by itself (unless of course you’re suffering from any other health issues that may cause complications).

It should be noted that it’s almost impossible to get a doctors note, as.. well, you’re not supposed to see a doctor.  However, you shouldn’t need a note unless you’re absent from work for over 7 days.  If it’s still required, you can request one from your doctors, but it seems a little pointless – they essentially can only go on your word.

As I write this, the effects of the flu seem to be slowly dissipating after around 5-6 days, so hopefully I won’t be out of action for too much longer, but if there’s anybody reading this who has their own experiences then please, feel free to comment below.