I begin to despair about the way we have ceased as a nation to show stoicism in the face of any adversity. Have you noticed how a swine -flu epidemic in this country is now described as 'pandemic flu'; sounds so much worse than a flu epidemic of course..
Should anyone be surprised that 'cases' have 'doubled' to 100,000 this week? First we have the public told what symptoms to look out for in great detail and then told to make phone consultations, giving symptoms to GPs and NHS Direct to log in for one's Tamiflu and now a 'pandemic flu' website that collapsed with 9 million hits in an hour! Who is diagnosing these cases? The reality is that if you describe the symptons accurately from information given you already, you become an official statistic as a swine flu victim and can get hold of Tamiflu, just in case you need it when you really get swine flu!
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If you do not believe this is what has happened, then consider this little snippet from Chief Medical Officer today. He states that despite the 100,000 cases this week, the number needing hospitalisation this week has dropped below last week's figures when only 55,000 caught the bug. That is an odd trend is it not?
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The trend in Mexico ( outbreak source) and the USA shows the epidemic in these countries is already in decline. The sad but inescapable fact is that all influenza epidemics can kill and every year thousands do die, mainly the elderly, from influenza or complications brought on by it.
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Until, heaven forbid, we have a serious problem confronting us with swine-flu and the death toll rising into thousands, let's get on with enjoying a typical British Summer.
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If you were put off by a picture of local hack, Saul Leese in bed with swine-flu, in last week's IOTG, the picture below illustrates a really worrying case of swine-flu for you.
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