Swine Flu

[Violet]

Well I just seen the stock market went tumbling again today from the fears of the Swine Flu epidemic. We can't win.

[Nazreen]

It is really very bad. It seems that the crises are never ending and comes one after the other. The last time I checked the CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/) website, I think there were only 20 confirmed cases but now that number has doubled to 40 cases.


There are everyday actions people can take to stay healthy.

* Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
* Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
* Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.

Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

* Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
* If you get sick, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

It would be good if we take these precautions suggested by CDC especially if you're living in one of the affected states.

[Fergal]

The world's financial markets are nervous and jittery, something like a scare regarding swine-flu is enough to send them tumbling. Hopefully the medical threat is not that great and the scare will end soon.

[Fergal]

Swine flu is also affecting some major currencies. The Euro has fallen against the Japanese Yen, the Japanese have concerns regarding the effect swine flu could have in Europe, so they are selling the Euro and hence its value has declined.

Some of the major drug companies are benefiting from swine flu and have seen their shares increase in value. Someone makes money from every disaster.

There are four suspected cases in Ireland and test results are due out today, to confirm whether or not it is actually swine flu.

Our sympathies goes to everyone directly affected, especially in Mexico, where it is estimated that over 100 people have died.

[ted bailey]

It is important to remember the severe cases are not in the U.S. yet. We shouldn't panic to much. We do have cases in the U.S. but they are minor. I think within a week or so this will be behind us and Mexico will be on the road to recovery.

[Nazreen]

The number of cases in the US are increasing as we speak. WHO has also raised it's alert level to level four and issued a statement that it's "too late to contain the virus" as more countries confirm that they already have cases of swine flu.


Alert level four means the virus is showing a sustained ability to pass from human to human and is able to cause community-level outbreaks.

Many countries have also issued travel restrictions to Mexico. I agree that we should not panic but we should also take some precautions.

[Fergal]

Thankfully the four suspected cases in Ireland have proven to be false alarms and there have been no confirmed cases here. Given the WHO statement however, it is probably only a matter of time.

[Nazreen]

Glad to hear that they're only false alarms in Ireland Fergal. As for the US, the number of cases is still increasing.. 64 confirmed cases to date.

Our authorities here in Singapore are also keeping vigilant and the technology developed when we had SARS problem is now being put to good use in our airport. There are also no confirmed cases here but our government has already issued a warning to take extra precautionary measures to our citizens and all those staying here.

[Fergal]

It's good to hear that the authorities in Singapore are taking the issue seriously. It would appear that governments in the West are not taking the issue just as serious. Travelers coming from Mexico are moving freely through the airports.

The WHO has raised the alert level to five, which is the second highest alert level. A major difference between this swine flu and other flus appears to be that this flu has killed young and otherwise healthy people in Mexico. Other flus are generally only fatal to the very old or those suffering from immune deficiencies.

[chica]

I know one school in Alabama postponed their finals because of swine flu. Or so my friend says. I see the cases are getting closer to where I live and am huddled in my home. lol My aunt, who is a pilot, says that some of the pilots won't leave their seats or open that door during boarding. There were two cases in northern Kansas I believe. It is starting to really scare me. O.O

[Fergal]

Ireland has it's first probable case. We had some suspected cases before, but this particular case has been described as "probable". It is in a male who has returned home from Mexico. Apparently his condition is improving and his test results will be confirmed tomorrow.

[Nazreen]

It's not even a couple of weeks and the Swine Flu (renamed to H1N1 Flu) has already risen to 141 cases in the United States. Why did Obama not close the borders between the US and Mexico?

Are people in the US already wearing masks Chica? I still remember when we had SARS outbreak here in Singapore and you can see a lot of people wearing masks when they're outside. Masks were very much in demand at that time and the same with thermometers.

[chica]

I know that people in airports are wearing masks. About 50/50 at my airport... I have no clue about other air ports. Alot of stores are beginning to get sold out of the masks, so I guess I should stock up. Are people wearing them anywhere else?

[Fergal]

I haven't seen anyone wearing masks in Ireland.

There have been ten confirmed deaths to date, from swine flu. Obviously each of these deaths is a tragedy for the people involved and for their friends and family. But ten deaths from all over the world is actually very small. The majority of people who contract swine flu make a good recovery, it looks as if this will blow over pretty soon.

[Nazreen]

It's not just masks that are being sold out in Singapore. Thermometers and flu pills are also being sold out. Our government has also implemented a system for people to log in and register our names and contact numbers when we visit some public establishments like libraries and sports halls to make it easier for the authorities to track down people just in case.

Our government also raised the alert level from yellow to orange alert even though there are no confirmed cases here. Orange alert is only one level below just before red alert.


ALERT ORANGE: Virus becoming increasingly better adapted to humans but may not yet be fully transmissible, requiring close contact with an index case. Larger clusters appear in one or two places outside Singapore but a pandemic has not yet been declared.

I saw in the news today that there are already 16 deaths in Mexico. My condolences to the family and friends of all those who died. This is also turning into an economic nightmare especially for businesses in Mexico. The Mexican government has shutdown all non-essential businesses like bars, movie theaters and many more. Well, they might as well have shutdown all businesses there because the people are all afraid of leaving their houses to go outside.

[Kay]

I haven't seen anyone in masks. What the big concern is now is the Canadian farmer (http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/03/swine.flu.canada/index.html) who'd been to Mexico and has apparently passed it on to his pigs. So you now have pig -> human, human ->human and human->pig as means of transference. Still believe what they say about it being safe to eat pork? I don't. The powers that be don't know enough about this to be sure of anything. This is also noted to be a new strain. By the time vaccines are ready in the fall, they could well be ineffective as it's ever changing. This is moving very fast and is going to get much worse.

News just out. (http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/03/swine.flu/index.html)


GENEVA, Switzerland (CNN) -- The number of known swine flu cases worldwide topped 800 on Sunday, with another 66 cases confirmed in the United States, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

The number of confirmed U.S. cases jumped from 160 to 226 by Sunday morning, and the number of states with confirmed cases grew from 22 to 30, the CDC reported. Only one U.S. case has been fatal.

The latest CDC figures bring the number of confirmed worldwide cases to 853.

I researched avian flu long ago for DD purposes on a stock. I risk sounding like a prophet of doom when I talk about this but it's because I spent many days looking into various scenarios and how widespread a pandemic can become. Because of that, I probably can make a better guess than the average person perusing the headlines as to what will transpire. It gave me nightmares.

I predict we'll see a big jump in the numbers in the coming days because of the nature of the virus. It's infectious for seven days and possibly up to ten. We have only started hearing reports on this in the last week or so. Checks are just getting started and with the increased awareness more go to the dr that probably wouldn't have. All that time they've been unaware they're contagious.

Governments will try to tone down the announcements at first for fear of mass panic, then they get honest again when they realize just how devastating this virus is. You can't spin hundreds dying and more infected every day.

Countries will start closing borders, infighting will occur, hospitals will be unable to cope with the influx and their own staff will start refusing to turn up for fear of taking the virus home to their families, increasing the pressure on other staff. Police or military will be called in to protect staff from those demanding treatment.

It wouldn't surprise me to see state of emergency measures and powers being enforced. The phrase "in the interests of national security" are deliberately vague.

Governments that rely on tourism or heavily on import/export trade will start fudging their numbers, diluting the seriousness of their particular situation or not reporting them at all. Quarantine facilities will be established as it worsens because there are far too many to check at once (think modern day leper colonies) and people will stop going to the dr. for fear of being placed in one, thus allowing it to continue to spread untreated.

Antivirals and vaccines will run out as production facilities no longer have enough healthy staff to man them or distribute the goods. Businesses will close entirely because no one's venturing out, neither staff or customers. People will stockpile and hunker down that weren't already trying to do so because of the economy. Neighbor will turn against neighbor at the first sign of symptoms and as more and more crucial services go unstaffed like sanitation and water companies, the worse the living environment will get.

I hope I'm wrong, I really do. But I see nothing that convinces me this isn't going to play out this way.

[Fergal]

That's a frightening picture you paint Kay. Personally I don't believe that it will come to anything like that. Mexican health officials have said that the number of cases in Mexico is on the decline, hopefully they are telling us the truth and this is a good sign that it will blow over in the near future.

There has been one confirmed case in Ireland and the guy with it is said to be recovering well under quarantine at home, he has not even been hospitalised. Hopefully the disease won't spread too much, but if it does there is reason to believe that most of the people who get it will go on to make a full recovery. Currently there are no other confirmed or probable cases in Ireland.

[Nazreen]

That picture that was portrayed by Kay is not far from the truth Fergal so I think the government of Mexico and the US should not downplay this new influenza virus. When we had SARS (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5218a1.htm) here in Singapore last 2003, people really panicked and a lot of people wore masks, but if you did wear masks, people avoided you especially if you're coughing or sneezing. Same as in 2003, our pharmacies here are fast running out of masks, and thermometers as we speak. Our government also passed some laws prohibiting the act of spitting and blowing your nose in public without the use of tissues. Several countries also had issued travel advisory to their citizens, not to fly to Singapore. No one really knows what happened to the SARS virus. In time, it just disappeared but I think our country became better out of it, with the implementation of control measures and invention of thermal scanning devices. Today, our government is taking no risks and again implementing these control measures, even though we don't have any confirmed cases here in our small country.

In my opinion, the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus is far worse than SARS. For SARS, young and healthy individuals are not affected by SARS. For H1N1, I think that no one is immune to this virus. If you compare the rate of transmission for SARS and H1N1, H1N1 spreads a lot faster than SARS and farmers can even infect pigs while there are no cases of that for SARS.

[kumaran]

Yes, as Nazreen said this H1N1 is far worse than H5N1 too. H5N1 is Avian influenza which is an infection caused by avian (bird) influenza (flu) viruses. This particular Bird Flu can be treated and has vaccination. But there is no vaccine available right now to protect against H1N1 Flu. There are everyday actions which can help from preventing the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses like influenza. Goverments announced the people to identify the symptoms of this flu and take immediate action instead of spreading it further. People in remote villages are not aware of this latest flu and this ignorance on this disease is the main cause of spreading accross the world. Along with the preventive measures, emergency warning signs have also been given by CDC toact upon when needed.

In children, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:

1. Fast breathing or trouble breathing
2. Bluish skin color
3. Not drinking enough fluids
4. Not waking up or not interacting
5. Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
6. Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
7. Fever with a rash

In adults, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:

1. Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
2. Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
3. Sudden dizziness
4. Confusion
5. Severe or persistent vomiting

Let us help others also understand this and avoid this flu being spreading accross the country.

"If you imagine you can achieve it, If you dream you can become it." :)

[kumaran]

A CDC.gov widget can be added to this webpage page so that any one will be up-to-date on credible health and safety content – no more searching or browsing! We can stay informed about the health content that is most meaningful to us. We can get widgets at CDC page.

[Fergal]

A CDC.gov widget can be added to this webpage page so that any one will be up-to-date on credible health and safety content – no more searching or browsing! We can stay informed about the health content that is most meaningful to us. We can get widgets at CDC page.

Good suggestion, unfortunately I can't add the JavaScript code inside a forum post but for anyone that wants to get up to date info please visit the CDC page here (http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/).

[Nazreen]

Our government here have actually lowered down it's alert level for the H1N1 Flu. However, the latest news in the US is that it is still continuing to spread. There are now over 2532 cases with 3 deaths.

By the way, there has been a recent rise of scams trying to take advantage of the swine flu epidemic. If you try to google "H1N1 flu cure" or "swine flu cure", you will arrive at some websites promising that they have a cure for this virus. So please be warned and not be taken in by these scams.

[Fergal]

It's amazing how something like swine flu can get such high profile media attention and public awareness.

Almost 3,000 children die every day from malaria, which is a preventable disease. However, these deaths get very little reporting in the media.

[DEADMAN]

It is also told that Nepal is also affected with Swine Flu. In addition, it is further told the foreigners did brought Swine Flu to Nepal and now the tourists coming from abroad to airports of Nepal are checked before they pass by Nepal.

[devilbatista]

It's amazing how something like swine flu can get such high profile media attention and public awareness.

Almost 3,000 children die every day from malaria, which is a preventable disease. However, these deaths get very little reporting in the media.

I agree with Fergal. Preventable diseases aren't cared that much. As a result it occurs in mass deaths.

But I also think that Swine Flu is an epidemic and non curable, so people should be awared as soon as possible to prevent death.

Also, New diseases get more publicity like, Bird flu and Now it's Swine Flu.

[Fergal]

...Swine Flu is an epidemic and non curable...

Why do you say it's "non curable" the vast majority of people who get it make a full recovery? And many of those recover at home, i.e. don't need to be hospitalized?

[devilbatista]

Why do you say it's "non curable" the vast majority of people who get it make a full recovery? And many of those recover at home, i.e. don't need to be hospitalized?

I meant "non curable" in accordance to that when you suffer from it, you won't able to cure it if you don't get immediate medical attention. The diseases like Tuber Culosis ( TB ) can be cured when you suffer or get attacked by the disease. But like for the diseases like Swine Flu, Bird Flu, when you get attacked by the disease, it can't be cured if you pay no attention.

People don't care about the disease which can be cured so, death is more in such cases. But when we say the disease is non curable, people give more attention to the disease and become more carefull so that they won't get the disease.

Swine Flu posts in various Forums.

There's nothing common about this flu, it causes fever, diarrhea, aches, chills etc. But I do I agree, you only will die if you don't get immediate medical attention.


the swine flu is not curable right, but if you are treated at the beginning of it you have a chance to survive it, it is a deadly flu because so much mucus gets stuck where you breathe, you will die of no air!

I got this from other Forum Sources. I know Swine Flu is curable and preventable but If we don't get medial attention quickly or don't care about the disease, it may result in Death.

[equinox]

Swine flu is just like the usual seasonal flu. We should consult a doctor in order to cure this flu.

[Fergal]

It's still spreading. Northern Ireland confirmed it's first case today, more here on RTE (http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0514/swineflu.html).

[Nazreen]

It's amazing how something like swine flu can get such high profile media attention and public awareness.

Almost 3,000 children die every day from malaria, which is a preventable disease. However, these deaths get very little reporting in the media.

Swine flu should get high profile media attention so as to increase public awareness! It affects everyone and no one is immune to it. It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, young or old, or live in a first-world economy or in a developing country. Malaria, on the other hand, is preventable and the public should also be made aware of this. I don't want to appear uncaring but I think that we should first take care of the immediate danger that is closer to our homes.

Hope that the Irish government is able to contain and quarantine the swine flu patient immediately Fergal. Only through good control measures, can this epidemic be controlled and beaten.

[devilbatista]

We should be aware of every diseases. Not only preventable but also which are non curable as HIV AIDS. We, ourself can prevent these diseases. " Prevention is better than cure "

[kimw1]

Hello.......
like all influenza viruses, swine flu viruses change constantly. Pigs can be infected by avian influenza and human influenza viruses as well as swine influenza viruses. When influenza viruses from different species infect pigs, the viruses can reassort (i.e. swap genes) and new viruses that are a mix of swine, human and/or avian influenza viruses can emerge. Over the years, different variations of swine flu viruses have emerged. At this time, there are four main influenza type A virus subtypes that have been isolated in pigs: H1N1, H1N2, H3N2, and H3N1. However, most of the recently isolated influenza viruses from pigs have been H1N1 viruses.

[Fergal]

It seems that the ability to swap genes and mutate is where the real problem lies. This makes it more difficult to find a cure and to stop the spread of the virus.

[Fergal]

On a lighter note, don't blame the pigs video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbt_PuVAVTU).

[Kay]

I think we all knew it was coming, just not when. Today they declared it had reached the highest level needed for confirmation and made it official. This is the WHO press statement. (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2009/h1n1_pandemic_phase6_20090611/en/index.html)

Is your business ready for this? Have you any plans in place or taken any steps to prepare for this eventuality? There's a good article here (http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9134268) on that very subject with some excellent tips.

[Fergal]

The first flu pandemic in 41 years ... Now doesn't that sound worrying!!

I have to admit that I didn't know it was coming and I was surprised when there were more cases in Ireland over the last couple of days and now this WHO announcement. I honestly believed that the whole swine flu thing would blow over and that we would all forget about it. Unfortunately not, thanks for sharing those links with us Kay.

[pendelton]

If you don't have an online business, now is the time to kick yourself for not having it going.

[Nazreen]

The H1N1 Flu pandemic has really crossed borders. In Singapore, we already have 21 confirmed cases. Most of which are exchange students and those coming from the US and Australia.

[Kay]

The first flu pandemic in 41 years ... Now doesn't that sound worrying!!

I have to admit that I didn't know it was coming and I was surprised when there were more cases in Ireland over the last couple of days and now this WHO announcement. I honestly believed that the whole swine flu thing would blow over and that we would all forget about it. Unfortunately not, thanks for sharing those links with us Kay.

That's what happens when the media tires of reporting something, Fergal. They have imho the attention span of a gnat and if it's not sensationalistic fast enough, they lose interest. And of course, that was the worst thing that could have happened. It's a fair assumption that people stopped or reduced the time they spent taking common sense precautions. Had they seen the stats increasing on the nightly news for example, I think they would have. Out of sight, out of mind.

[Norrad]

The amount of cases here in Thailand is growing quite rapidly, many schools in some parts of the country are on high alert. I have to admit that I am a little bit worried, if I even feel a hint of a cold starting then I will be off to the doctor a quick as possible.

[Fergal]

At least it's comforting to know that the majority of people who get it go on to make a full recovery.

[h0gghill]

I personally think that here in Singapore, our economy is not going to be adversely affected by this pandemic. Our government has taken the necessary measures such as quarantine and even considering the shutting of schools to minimise the spread of this flu pandemic to the Singaporeans. Hence, I have absolute confidence in our government's capability to handle this issue and not let it affect Singapore.

[Fergal]

We've had news today that a seven year old girl is being treated for swine flu in Ireland (http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0619/swineflu.html). She is being treated at home and is responding well to treatment.

The girl was attending her local primary school and not surprisingly most parents have taken their children out of the school, for fear that they would also catch swine flu.

[youbetcha1018]

We have H1N1 here in the Philippines and children are most likely hit by this virus. Their studies are affected that they were advised to do self-quarantine(without the sample result) or stay in the hospital (if proven infected). We are all advised to wear protective gears and drink a lot of vits esp vitamin C.




_______________________
buffalo surgical oncologist

[kguru1979]

Even Swine Flu is affecting country sports also. Indian team's practice session in West Indies for 4-match One Day International series was cancelled. This is due to due to Swine flu outbreak in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Indian team has been advised to not to leave their team hotel to avoid any infection as a precautionary measure.

The Trinidad and Tobago Health Ministry said the match was called off as a measure of preventing spread of influenza A (H1N1) virus.

Source: TIMES OF INDIA (http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Specials/India-in-West-IndiesSwine-flu-cancelled-Team-Indias-practice-match/articleshow/4691662.cms)

I hope if Swine Flu is affecting cricket and other sports like this, sure this is also a cause for affecting markets since more branding and advertisements of products are depending on sporting activities worldwide...

[Joehema]

The best advice I can give you is not to get flu shots (I know it sounds stupid but its not). If you get the flu shot your 4x more likely to catch the flu. Also I don't know how many people know this but the company that was hired to make the current vaccine is sick and corrupt. Everything to me dose not add up. A major healthcare company that makes vaccines and medications, ever since the SARS outbreak they are a company that would be hired to make these vaccines if we have a pandemic. Witch was announced that they would make the N1H1 vaccine, now for the "truth" most people don't know about them, mostly thanks to the media shutting there mouth.


06 Mar 2009 It’s emerged that virulent H5N1 bird flu was sent out by accident from an Austrian lab [the Austrian branch of US vaccine company, ...] last year and given to ferrets in the Czech Republic before anyone realised. As well as the risk of it escaping into the wild, the H5N1 got mixed with a human strain, which might have spawned a hybrid that could unleash a pandemic.

‘This was infected with a bird flu virus.’ Viral Pandemic H5N1 flu threat: a major healthcare company contaminates European labs by error 25 Feb 2009 According to the scientific network PROMED, A major healthcare company. in Austria “unintentionally contaminated samples with the bird flu virus that were used in laboratories in 3 neighboring countries, raising concern about the potential spread of the deadly disease”. As PROMED reports, the contamination has been discovered when ferrets at a laboratory in the Czech Republic died after being inoculated with vaccine made from the samples early this month.

So basically the major healthcare company created a deadly virus, then it was "mixed" into VACCINES! Then sent out around the world to labs before it hits the public. Lucky Czech Republic tested it out ferrets, and found this out. How do you mix a new deadly virus with a vaccine? Why did they not investigate? This dose not happen by mistake.

Now here we are in a pandemic.. and we have a major healthcare company in charge of our health.. June 12 it was announced that the vaccine was done and is now going thew testing. I know when its comes down to it I'm not getting my shot. If I happened to get sick, I'm going to eat lots of fruits with vitamins in them. The best defense is a a health body system.

At the end of the day, the government makes more money when we are sick.

All let everyone make up there own mind but I know all have my oranges ready.

[youbetcha1018]

The best advice I can give you is not to get flu shots (I know it sounds stupid but its not). If you get the flu shot your 4x more likely to catch the flu.

Uhmmmmmmm.... This sounds very interesting. I agree with you Joehema, they said that getting this shot won't even help protect you from getting H1N1! It is just a shot that will protect you from a common flu...

[Fergal]

Frightening stuff Joehema, this is the first time I heard that theory. Given the huge money and power involved in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, it wouldn't surprise me one bit.

Can you provide us with links to any sources for further information?

[Joehema]

I forgot about the source.

Source: http://blogs.healthfreedomalliance.org/blog/2009/04/26/baxter-admitted-sending-live-avian-flu-in-vaccines-now-vying-to-create-new-swine-flu-vaccine/ (The comment on this article is pretty interesting also)

Here is some more info.
http://www.infowars.com/baxter-to-develop-swine-flu-vaccine-despite-bird-flu-scandal/
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Health--Science/Science/Virus-mix-up-by-lab-could-have-resulted-in-pandemic/articleshow/4230882.cms

[neo666]

as far as i know,it is contagious but preventable, tamiflu is the drug for prophylaxis or prevention purpose

[Fergal]

The makers of TamiFlu are one of the big winners from the Swine Flu outbreak. The amount of free publicity they received is simply unbelieveable. It would cost you billions if you were paying for that level of worldwide publicity.

Whenever there's a major problem or disaster, there is generally someone making a lot of money from it.

[coolcure]

Swine flue is definitely affecting all aspects of human being's lives whether social, political, financial ...etc. But it has a great impact on finance and money all over the worlds. Although, it's over rated, it's not that dangerous disease if cured on the correct time. So, don't worry people, you should be just going to the doctor and get cured instantly.

[devilbatista]

Thanks for the link Joehema. I will read it.

I think Swine Flu is increasing and the cases have been found in my own country Nepal too.

[Fergal]

Sadly, there have been two swine flu deaths in the UK, in the last few days. One was a six year old child and the other was a doctor. This problem hasn't gone away yet and it is still a cause of concern.

[Norrad]

Well, my office has been ordered to close because of the flu. At least I'm still being paid, now if my part time job also decides to close shop, then I am going to take a small income dip.

[Fergal]

That's shocking Norrad, sorry to hear that but glad you are still getting paid. Hopefully your part time job will be fine. Your story will probably become more and more common.

UK Government figures being released today, predict that one in eight workers will be forced to stay at home in the coming weeks, because they are suffering from swine flu. The same report states that 12% of the workforce will be sick with swine flu by the end of September.

The figures suggest that 30% of the UK population will suffer from swine flu and that between 0.1 and 0.35% of those infected, will die from the disease. Resulting in up to 350 deaths per day, at it's peak. Hopefully it will not get this bad.

If these figures hold true, the financial from loss from worker sick days and temporary business closures will have a devastating effect on businesses that are already struggling.

Normally I'd take figures like these as being over dramatic, but the fact that they are reported in today's Financial Times (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4fbbf3b4-7182-11de-a821-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=819fc44c-33e2-11de-9eea-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1) gives them a lot of credibility.

Some days I think the scare is over rated and other days I feel that it is a real concern. Only time will tell I suppose.