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September 24, 2009

Even celebs get swine flu

sanjay gupta swine fluCelebrities, they're just like us. Some of them even get the swine flu.

Take Dr. Sanjay Gupta, one of television's most recognizable faces who dispenses medical advice to the masses on CNN. He was on assignment in Afghanistan and came down with a terrible sore throat, body aches, a fever -- the whole shebang. Tests later confirmed that yes, this well-known health reporter had the swine flu. Way to throw yourself into one of the biggest medical stories of the year.

Marilyn Manson, the strange looking rocker, announced on his MySpace page that he has the swine flu. "Unfortunately, I am going to survive," he writes. Last spring, Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint -- he plays Ron Weasley, the boy wizard's best friend -- came down with the H1N1 virus.

And in a bit of irony, Laurie Garrett, a flu expert who wrote a book published in 1994 called The Coming Plague about emerging new diseases and author of a Newsweek cover story about the swine flu outbreak in May, has come down with it.

(OK, her celebrity isn't on the level of the others, but it's quite a coincidence, no?)

The bug is, in virology parlance, a "mild flu," but only somebody who hasn't been laid low by H1N1 would consider days of semi-delirium, muscle aches, fatigue, nausea, and stomach twisting to be "mild."

If the duration and depth of my personal illness are any indication of what's in store, and if scientists have correctly predicted that the bulk of infections in the U.S. will slam the entire nation long before vaccines are available, we are in trouble.

Watch this space. More celebs are bound to get the swine flu. Picture of Health will keep you up-to-date. More at 11.

Photo courtesy of Associated Press

Posted by Stephanie Desmon at 12:00 PM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Swine flu/H1N1
        

Comments

I thought I also heard some of the NY Mets had it but I don't remember where I saw it.

First of all, who uses MySpace? Secondly, I think it's good that a sort-of celebrity got the Swine Flu because hopefully people will realize that the chances of dying from the Swine Flu are pretty low if you are relatively healthy. Even though this guy has H1N1, no one's worried about him dying from it. Maybe he just needs to wash his hands more and use some hand wipes, even when he's on assignment.

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About Picture of Health
Meredith CohnMeredith Cohn has been a reporter since 1991, covering everything from politics and airlines to the environment and medicine. A runner since junior high and a particular eater for almost as long, she tries to keep up on health and fitness trends. Her aim is to bring you the latest news and information from the local and national medical and wellness communities.

Andrea K. WalkerAndrea K. Walker knows it’s weird to some people, but she has a fascination with fitness, diseases, medicine and other health-related topics. She subscribes to a variety of health and fitness magazines and becomes easily engrossed in the latest research in health and science. An exercise fanatic, she’s probably tried just about every fitness activity there is. Her favorites are running, yoga and kickboxing. So it is probably fitting that she has been assigned to cover the business of healthcare and to become a regular contributor to this blog. Andrea has been at The Sun for nearly 10 years, covering manufacturing, retail , airlines and small and minority business. She looks forward to telling readers about the latest health news.
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