Swine Flu May Have Saved Lives

In a normal year between 2,000 and 4,000 individuals die from regular winter flu

In a strange turn of events it appears that the H1N1 swine flu pandemic which swept around the world last year may have actually saved thousands of lives. According to influenza experts the swine flu virus pushed aside the regular H3N2 seasonal strain of influenza viruses which tend to do the most damage to the health of elderly people. The swine flu virus which is similar to an influenza virus which appeared back in the 1950's was on the whole completely harmless to elderly people as they had a natural immunity to it.

In fact the figures for influenza in the United Kingdom show that despite having had the coldest winter for 30 years, "excess winter mortality" dropped by 30 percent compared to the year before which was milder and The Office for National Statistics said that the main reason for the drop was low level of influenza.

In fact, what the swine flu pandemic did was make people very aware of exactly how dangerous influenza can be and thus many people took extra precautions not to get any type of flu. On top of this, sensible individuals made sure that they stocked up with either Tamiflu or Relenza which are the two most effective drugs to treat not only swine flu but also the very deadly H5N1 bird flu. The UK government launched a National Flu Pandemic Service to give out emergency Tamiflu and Relenza as well as loads of practical advice about what to do if you contracted flu.

Despite all of the hype about swine flu it 'only' killed 494 people in the UK despite over £1 billion being spent on measures to prevent it. In a normal year between 2,000 and 4,000 individuals die from seasonal winter flu.

Critics of the government who said that they overreacted to the swine flu threat should remember that if it had really taken hold in the UK and if it had mutated with the more serious H5N1 bird flu virus they probably would've been accused of under reacting and not spending enough money!