Don't want to belittle what is obviously a serious situation, but all this panic being peddled in the media is absolute golddust to the 'Jeremy Kyle' section of society, who seem to thrive on any little crumb of hysteria.

To put things in perspective, there is a flu bug going around, which has the potential to affect around half of us.....The same thing happens every winter, though because we have given this one a funny name, we are choosing to react like we are being struck down with some apocolyptic nightmare-style disease.

Get well soon all those who are truly affected, but living with somebody who works in the NHS, I can assure you that plenty of supposed cases are nothing more than hypochondriacs with a touch of the sniffles, who just insist on making the NHS's already difficult job an impossible one.

Or he could just say 'no'.

I don't believe in swine flu, its all a load of overhype by the press. They said everyone was gonna get bird flu and it never happened.

Thats cos they got it wrong, it was dogs that contracted bird flu

i didn't know swine flu was linked to drug use?

a bit judgemental?

It may seem it but its no different to when your out and about somewhere and someone tells you they have flu but they are at work/rugby/shopping etc and generally getting on with life as normal - which anyone who has had flu knows you can't do.

If you have flu you know about it but some people do tend to say they have when they just have a bit of a cold.

It's nowhere near as bad as MAN FLU ,

Not really, because the Jeremy Kyle section of society is only interested in two mooses fighting over a bloke who looks like Steve Buscemi's less attractive brother and finding out when little Chantelle Lola Chelsea is due and who is the daddy.

Doctors think i could have it. Still not well from Thursday so I still can't go out.

True, true.

Who is the daddy ?

....It's cases like this that I was on about in my first post on this subject.

You reckon you have had it since last Thursday, but are still not sure????....Honestly pal, if you had flu you would know about it, and wouldn't have spent the last 5 or 6 days still no sure....

i must be honest, i work in A&E and do see over anxious people coming in all the time concerned their kids or they themselves have "swine" flu.

the question i ask is can you blame them? no

apart from ignoring all the advice to stay at home that is



but being a parent i understand their fears tbh, sending a poxy flyer through peoples door is not the most efective means of spreading health care advice, stick it on the advert break when "corrie" is on is a darned more effective method. that on one side, people have different expectations of what flu is and it has different impacts on different people.

one mans man flu is anothers beubonic plague!

If I get the symptoms, I'm off to see Dr Gregory House M.D. he'll diagnose it straight away and confirm that it's linked to a Choc Dip I ate in 1987.

There are adverts on TV as well.

But like you said I can fully understand people panicking after the fuss that has been made especially in the media

anyone know any home remedies for amnesia?

i see Ricky hatten's missus thought he had swine flu but it was just food poisoning

House is a legend!!!

i used to but forgot!

now how ironic, my wife and son have caught it, i'm praying i remain ok so i can go to yorkshire on sunday.. dagnabbit!

someone in my wifes work has got symptoms so she has had the last 2 days off causing my wife to gain 2 days overtime

In the current credit crunch i am loving the extra cash at someones near death experience

On a serious note here,

After seeing the front pages of todays newspapers I think the media are a complete disgrace. They are intent on whipping people up into hysteria over this swine flu thing. Some of the reporting is absolutely appalling and in bad taste. They only seem to report on the negatives when the facts are;

- That the deaths are only in line with normal seasonal flu fatality rates.

- Many thousands of people are getting very mild symptoms and are making full and speedy recoveries including those seen as high risk groups.

Its idiotic reporting like this that is causing a massive strain on the nhs and GP surgerys.

The only thing the government is not doing which it should and that is to stop the media from acting in this irresponsible and reckless way.

i believe theres been something mentioned about horse flu coming next from ireland.

panic not www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/new ... swine_flu/ Warrington can cope!!!!!!

panic not www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/new ... swine_flu/ Warrington can cope!!!!!!

The media are just reporting the worst case scenario though - which to an extent you would expect from the media - and if people look beyond the headlines then in most cases they are very good at giving the whole picture, but dramatic headlines draw peoples attention.

To a certain extent though perhaps an element of panic in a situation like this is good if it makes people more aware of the illness and makes them react quickly if they show signs as this could help reduce the severity of their case (the sooner you get the medication the better) and if they are diagnosed then they can reduce/stop contact with others to reduce the spread.