Swine flu in London next?

Originally posted by Dutty_Rag

What do people reckon? Am I over-reacting?

At the risk of sounding harsh (which is not my intention) yes, you are over-reacting.

Although there is no guarantee that it is not yet in the tunnels of das kapital it's a pretty good bet that it is not.

Most people on the tube look sweaty. It's hot down there.

Anyone incubating influenza could look perfectly normal and pass it on to you.

What you should be doing is making preparations for if, and I do mean IF there is an explosive increase.

Make stocks of food, water, basic medical supplies. Food and water a definite. The last thing you need is the shops closing due to lorry drivers calling in sick through fear and there being no food to purchase.

Other than that, common sense should win through. Practice good hygiene and monitor lines of communication.

I want to second that. You are over-reacting. I would recommend not listening to ITV new and also BBC these days, as they are increasingly sensationalist and generally poor! In fact mainstream media poses are very real dangerous threat to free thinking civilisation as we stand today.

Look at the facts presented on the sites such as the Guardian and Telegraph and other broadsheet UK newspapers. We have been in the same situation as this with SARs and Bird Flu, both predicted to kill millions. I think Bush may have said at the time that 2 Million US would die. In London there is of course potential for a virus to spread. The seasonal flu kills many people.

Another thing to point out is that the figures are disputed from Mexico; the Mexican authorities have alledgedly only been able to confirm that there have been 8 definitive deaths from this virus in Mexico. All the rest are either not related or unconfirmed/suspected. There have been a handful of cases in the UK all of which have been from people who have been to Mexico. All cases have been mild outside Mexico. There has only been one confirmed case of definite human to human spread in the UK which may be cause for some concern, but not panic.