“I THOUGHT I SHOULD let you guys know that right now I am sick…”
This is not the e-mail news I want to read from my 22-year-old daughter who is living in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has a fever, runny nose and a cough, all the symptoms of H1N1.
Unfortunately, I am well aware that a year ago Argentina suffered a major outbreak of the illness with a death rate (1.6 percent) more than three times the world average, according to a July 3, 2009, New York Times article. Yet, those deaths ran behind Mexico and the United States. Currently the World Health Organization reports that Argentina has “low activity and only sporadic detections of both pandemic and seasonal influenza viruses during the early part of winter.”
Yet, this provides little reassurance to me, a Minnesota mom with an unvaccinated daughter nearly 6,000 miles away who is exhibiting H1N1 symptoms.
Didn’t I tell her to get the H1N1 vaccine last winter at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, where she was finishing her senior year of college? She didn’t and I didn’t push the issue. Now I regret my lackadaisical attitude.
“Please don’t worry about me; I’m sure I will be better soon,” my daughter writes. “I’ve been drinking lots of water and tea. Also, my roommate Lucas has been taking really good care of me, bringing me soup, Kleenex, tea, water etc. Later today when he gets home from work he is going to go w/ me to the doctor.”
OK then, she tells me not to worry, but she feels sick enough to see a physician. This is not good.
But I am here, she is there and I can’t exactly bring her chicken soup. So, as any responsible mom would do, I worry and await her next e-mail.
The next morning she updates me. She doesn’t have H1N1, but a viral infection that should clear up in three days. My daughter relays that the doctor was nice and seemed competent, checking her temperature, blood pressure, heart, throat, symptoms, etc., “all the normal stuff they do in the States.” Alright then, that’s good.
But then she tells me about the free public clinic. “The clinic was probably the worst clinic I’ve ever been to. We had to wait forever to see the doctor, and they only had super-uncomfortable wooden benches in the very cold waiting room. After a while, I decided it would be more comfortable to sit on the floor b/c I could at least put my head against the wall, and Lucas covered me up w/ his jacket. This was a good idea b/c it was indeed more comfy and then 2 different doctors came up to us and tried to get us in sooner b/c I probably looked like crap. Also, the bathroom there was EXTREMELY disgusting! I don’t think any of the toilets flushed, there was no toilet paper (thankfully I had some Kleenex w/ me), and the sinks weren’t working.”
OK, up until that revelation, I was feeling better.
© Copyright 2010 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
My brother never mentioned the care at the clinics, but he might have had his own GP. He ended up in a Buenos Aires hospital for a week with H1N1 at about the same time our niece had it in MN. It would be an interesting comparison if we all got together to talk about it.
Oh, please do not tell me this… , that your brother spent a week in an Argentine hospital with H1N1. I bet, like any country, patients will have positive and negative experiences. If anything, my daughter certainly has a deeper appreciation for healthcare in the States. Not that she’s ever sought medical attention anywhere other than in her Minnesota hometown or La Crosse, Wisconsin.
My brother lived there, though! In Buenos Aires. During the height of the H1N1 epidemic as well as a dengue fever outbreak and that’s just his luck. He ended up in the hospital a couple of years back with a combo meningitis/whooping cough outbreak. Your daughter will be fine. 🙂
Well, at least I don’t have to worry about my daughter contracting whooping cough. She (and I) had that illness several years ago so we should be immune for awhile.
I think, when you’re a mom, you always worry some, even if you shouldn’t.
Is this what obamacare will look like?
Lou
This question crossed my mind also, Lou.
Argentine has a universal health care system and when i say universal it’s truly universal with a great medical staff; we’ve got people that come from abroad to seek treatment and medicines here in Argentina for free, we have mainly Chileans, Paraguayans, Brazilians, Bolivians, Peruvians nationals who come periodically to Argentina for that purpose only, to get HIV medicine, cancer treatments, major surgery, etc. There are people of other national origins but particularly i know two cases of poor Americans who, if they didn’t invest in the airplane tickets to come to seek medical care in Argentina, they would have been dead by now, one of them came for a cardiological surgery and another for a cancer treatment both of them alive and they only paid the air tickets. That’s a huge amount of money to pay for, and Argentine tax payers are the only ones paying the bill for people who doesn’t live nor pay taxes here and get it for free. Next time tell your daughter to pay a private provider which is much better and she’ll be paying as little as 150 dollar per month and she’ll be covered for almost everything.
Gabriel, thank you for explaining how the healthcare system works in Argentina. My daughter lives now and works in Wisconsin. But I expect some day she may return to Argentina for a visit.
The $150/month for a private provider would be considered a bargain in the U.S.