[07:48-10:26] Anderson Cooper: “As of tonight, more than 41,000 Americans have been infected with an H1N1 or swine flu virus. Maybe you know someone who’s come down with it.
We do. Our very own Sanjay Gupta. Our chief medical correspondent got the virus during a recent trip to Afghanistan. Sanjay said it was the sickest he’s ever been. He joins us now to talk about it; he’s a physician and a patient – Uh, Sanjay, first of all, how do you feel now?”
Sanjay Gupta: “You know, I feel fine, now, Anderson. And you know, it’s worth pointing out, you and I talked about this while we were both in Afghanistan, and you were quite sick as well. I’ve come to find out later on that the H1N1, the swine flu as it’s called, was circulating quite a bit, Anderson, in the area that we were in.”
Anderson Cooper: “Was it really? No one mentioned that to us. Or at least not me.”
Sanjay Gupta: “I know, I mean, you know, frankly speaking, we can talk about this now via satellite but you know, there’s a good chance, based on everything that I’m hearing, that you also had H1N1 virus infection.”
Anderson Cooper: “Well, cause I – I mean, I had similar symptoms to you, I was – the cough was the worst cough I’ve ever had, and it even hurt my heart when I was coughing, and I went to you, and you were really sick, and I asked you, “Is it possible it’s swine flu?” And you said, “Probably not, because usually swine flu has a very high fever right away.”
Sanjay Gupta: “That’s right. And you know, it’s interesting because I think the next day, I think maybe you had gone to a different province and I, I was feeling miserable the next day and I hadn’t checked my temperature, you know; you’re in the desert, it’s hot outside. Hadn’t really thought about it. I went there and my temperature was around 102 degrees, so, you know, pretty high for certainly for me, 98 being normal and 98.6.
So that was the first sign and then, you know, I had that same cough that you did. Light-headedness, and I was freezing cold. I don’t know if you had that as well. [Anderson Cooper: “Yeah.”] But that was really the most memorable part of it. I was freezing cold despite being in the desert.
Are you coughing right now?”
Anderson Cooper: “I- I’m still coughing. I will say. Just a little bit.”
Sanjay Gupta: “Thought I just heard that, yeah. I have a little bit of a cough as well. I don’t think we’re contagious though.”
Anderson Cooper: “I love that I just learned that I may have had swine flu from you, via satellite. Um, but what was it like? I mean, it was for you, you said it was the worst, worst sickness you ever had?”
Sanjay Gupta: “It really was. And I don’t get sick very often. I mean, I can’t remember the last time I was sick. I don’t remember the last time I had the flu. But this really floored me.
I think the day after you and I talked about it, the next morning, I was trying to get out of my sleeping bag, I could barely take a couple of steps without feeling really light-headed. And again, those just profound chills and shakes, despite the fact that it was over a hundred degrees outside. And then when I went to the – I went to the clinic, they had a role, it’s a role three battlefield clinic. You know, they gave me some IV fluids cause I hadn’t eaten in a while, and they also did the swab.
What we know is that H1N1 is circulating around the world. You mentioned how many cases have already been, Anderson, and what most doctors have told me, most infectious disease doctors, is that the testing really doesn’t matter.“