Swine flu - not a wet squib (From The Argus)
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Dr Higson wrote this blog for us in 2009. However, much of the advice he gives and issues he discusses are still relevant in 2010 and 2011.
Swine flu - not a wet squib
8:47am Thursday 30th July 2009
By Nigel Higson »
I was asked the other day whether the whole Swine Flu things was turning out to be a wet squib. I can understand why - its becoming a joke when people go off from work with fever and sore throat, receive a diagnosis of swine flu, and then are up and about again the next day. Regrettably, as we are aware, in some people its not such an easy recovery.
Despite it being generally a mild disease, the biggest problem we will see is the effect of hundreds of thousands of people being ill at the same time disrupting deliveries of goods, essential and non-essential services. Britain will find it difficult to cope if one in ten people are ill away from work for up to a week at a time. Also with the large numbers of people infected, even though the number per thousand dying will be small, there will still be thousands of deaths during the outbreak...
I remember the pictures of freezer lorries parked outside the Royal Sussex County Hospital a few winters ago holding those who had died in an outbreak of seasonal flu. This year there may be many such freezer lorries!
