[Gocamino] Gastro-enteritis in the Camino?

[Blaroli at aol.com]

Hello,
I've relayed to the powers-that-be in Santiago the accounts of several 
pilgrims getting sick around Fromista and Carrion.  They in turn have contacted  the 
regional health authorities which are looking into it.
I myself find the health system in Spain to be admirable. Last December, 
before going to Santiago for the closing of the Holy Door, I had been sick for 
four weeks with what appeared to be a terribly cold.  I saw four doctors in New 
York about it and had countless tests taken at a cost to my insurance company, 
I'm sure,  of thousands of dollars. I was told that I had a rare strain of 
bronchial infection that would take "several months" to clear up.  In Santiago I 
got particularly sick,  with continuing coughing fits that caused very painful 
and sharp  spams in my stomach and all over my chest.  At the advise of the 
people  in the hotel where I was staying I went to a hospital "Urgencies" 
(emergencies"), with some trepidation, since in New York going to the emergency 
room of a hospital necessitates hours and hours of waiting  in most unpleasant 
surroundings.  To my surprise, at the waiting room of the "urgencies" I was 
treated very kindly and offered coffee, and the wait was about thirty minutes or 
so.  I was seen by a female doctor, who kept writing into a computer,  and some 
attendants.  X-rays were taken, as well as blood, etc. and I was given some 
liquid medicine and put in a  very nice room, with a TV, to see the effects of 
the medicine. A couple of hours later, more blood was taken, and more X-rays 
and tests and I was released with a prescription for five different things. 
Because I did not have international health insurance I expected a bill of a 
thousand dollars or so.  Much to my everlasting surprise I only had to pay 32 
(thirty-two) Euros!  for everything!  When I went to the pharmacy I feared that I 
would have to pay the piper then on the price medicines which, I thought, 
would cost hundreds and hundreds of Euros....Well, the bill was 21 (twenty-one) 
Euros for all five..  All the medicines were liquid and tasted absolutely 
God-awful.... and after two days I was  right as rain and had rarely felt healthier. 
 I was given a computer print out listing  all that the hospital did, and 
their findings, and the medicines, and everything, which I brought home and 
showed everybody.. 
In my yearly visits to Seville I have occasionally indulged excessively in 
drinking the local sherry, "Manzanilla",  while going without sleep for days and 
eating God-knows-what, with the predictable results on someone my age and  
phisique. A quick visit to a local "Urgencies" department  has set me to rights 
in no time flat at very low, if any, cost.  I used to think that the 
Sevillians had particular experience in such cases, but what happened in Santiago 
persuaded me that the excellence of medical care in Spain is uniform.
I may add that medical care in Italy, as I have seen it practiced on travel 
companies who have gotten sick or have had accidents there,  is just as 
effective, solicitous, and inexpensive.
When I retire, a couple of years from now, I plan to move permanently to 
either Venice in Italy or Seville in Spain... or both....( I've begun the 
preparations )    The excellence of  medical care in those dear countries  will just 
be icing on the cake.
Warm regards,
Rosina