WHAT'S in a name? Sensitivity, it seems, when it comes to Influenza A(H1N1)patients.
Don't name them and we risk stigmatising their condition, as if they have something to hide, or to feel guilty about.
But with many doctors beginning to view H1N1 more like the common flu, what is there to hide?
The Ministry of Health (MOH) revealed on Tuesday that a number of recent H1N1 patients had carried on with extensive community activities such as going to work, shopping or attending mass activities before they found out they were infected.
This made it more difficult to trace people who might be at risk and also increased the likelihood of the illness spreading in the community, MOH added.
A German researcher drew criticism from netizens for allegedly being one of those "culprits".
Some have called for him to be named.
The 56-year-old man, who works at the Biopolis, was diagnosed with H1N1 on Monday night.
He had returned to Singapore from the US with flu symptoms on 8 Jun, but continued with his normal activities for a week before seeking medical treatment.
He has since denied that he acted irresponsibly.
He insisted that he had monitored his health and called the H1N1 hotline, 993, when he developed a feveron Monday.
Would naming H1N1 patients help in alerting those who had come into contact with them, such as colleagues, friends and relatives?
Yes.
Even so, should patients' names be released? No. That is the view of doctors The New Paper spoke to.
Stigmatised
A general practitioner from Roy's Family Clinic and Surgery, who wanted to be known only as Dr Roy, felt that based on what happened during the Sars outbreak, a lot of patients who were named had to put up with negative public sentiments.
Dr Roy, who has been a GP for 19 years, added that people tend to stigmatise H1N1 patients as they do other patients suffering from diseases such as leprosy.
"I've been trying to educate a lot of my patients that this is not much worse than a common flu, so why go around demonising people? It's not that they want to catch it," he said. While he could understand the public's apprehension about H1N1, he feels the fear is not justified.
He said: "There is not much difference between a H1N1 patient and a seasonal flu patient.
"People will come to realise that it's not so bad. This is not Sars. There is no need for anybody to panic.
"We need to educate people about this."
But Dr Roy said that there would be no issue about naming patients once we reach the mitigation phase. The mitigation stage is when there is sustained community spread and the focus shifts from quarantining H1N1 cases - what Singapore is doing now - to treating people who are sick.
"There will be no more need to name H1N1 patients. It will be treated as a seasonal flu," he said.
Some doctors felt the patient's right to privacy should be respected.
Said Dr Yun Kok Onn, of My Family Clinic in Choa Chu Kang: "Patients have the right to keep their medical condition to themselves."
He felt that current measures in place are sufficient to combat the H1N1 virus.
"At the end of the day, education is most important. People should take measures, such as wearing a mask or quarantining themselves, if they are not feeling well," he added.
Dr Paul Low, of Well Medical and Surgery, agreed. "If the patient is willing to be named, it's okay. If not, then it's not right. We have to respect the patient's privacy. It's the patient's right to choose whether to disclose or not."
But he stressed that the onus is on the patient to seek treatment early.
