NHS flu line being switched off.

[Matthew]

www.telegraph.co.uk/health/swine-flu/7145592/NHS-flu-line-being-switched-off-in-sign-outbreak-is-over.html

Interesting story.

They must be confident that we are over the worst of it. Thankfully it never touched us but at my kids school there were several cases of it along with one child being hospitalised.

And whilst I think that there was a degree of hysteria I also think it was an interesting exercise for those tasked with managing a potentially dangerous pandemic and words which tend to send a shiver down my spine now given how often they are used I am sure that 'lessons will be learnt'.

[edwin]

Strange that I have heard criticism over all the flu jabs that may not now be used, although they will last for about five years in store.

How can a government win? "Oh no not enough snow clearing equipment, dereliction of duty. What! surplus flu jabs, wast of money!".

What we did have down here in Cornwall were a massive number of bronchitis type infections. Virtually everybody in our singing club, for example got it. Whether it was a manifestation of swine flu or something else it still showed how quick and thorough an epidemice can be.

Edwin

[Matthew]

What amused me about the whole thing was a story told to me by a family member who works for the civil service.

Very shortly after the whole scare broke she had to attend a meeting about how Tamiflu would be distributed through out her depatment of the civil service. It was all very dramatic to start with but soon descended into the usual BS about whether the 'home' department was responsible for providing the drugs for people from other departments on secondment and so on.

After-wards she has to go to another floor to get something and she see's somebody she knew. This person has a lovely sun-tan but looks very unwell. She comments on this to which the person replies how they only flew back from Mexico the following morning.

Now you have to remember that the advice was already for people coming back from there and experiencing flu symptoms to stay put but this guy had just ignored it and came in to work anyway.

So if this had been deadly it would have been in the very heart of Whitehall before they had even got off the starting blocks.

Makes me smile a little as well as realizing that things could go very wrong much quicker than people realize.