# 5196
Although I’ve certainly felt the story has been worthy of coverage numerous times over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been doing my level best not to oversell the flu `crisis’ in the UK.
I know it won’t sell newspapers, or draw hordes of readers to this blog, but the plain facts are – so far, anyway – the number of deaths and ICU admissions attributed to this year’s flu outbreak in the UK fall far short of constituting a viral Armageddon.
But you wouldn’t know that by reading the newspaper headlines.
Which is not to say the UK isn’t being impacted by a serious outbreak of influenza (and other respiratory illnesses). It is.
Some hospitals, ICUs, and GPs are heavily stressed, and there are a number of tragic stories regarding children and young adults impacted by the flu.
But influenza exacts a heavy toll almost every year. Most of the time – since its victims are generally elderly – this goes largely unnoticed by the public and the press.
As the H1N1 virus has shown a predilection for younger victims, this year and last, we are seeing far more media coverage – and public concern – regarding influenza.
Fergus Walsh, the BBC’s well known medical correspondent, brings a little bit of sanity to the coverage in a New Year’s Eve blog post called:
Keeping a sense of proportion about swine flu
Fergus Walsh | 14:14 UK time, Friday, 31 December 2010
A highly recommended dose of reality for this first morning of the new year.
