Scaremongering

I'm grateful to one of my readers for alerting me to two Lancashire deaths missing from my swine flu death list. One of them - Godfrey Armstrong - is particularly sad as he was perfectly healthy and yet died so quickly. The article in the Lancashire Evening Post makes for sad reading and shows that, as rare as they are, healthy swine flu deaths are something we need to discuss. The comments at the end of the article talk about whether the press is right to highlight his death or whether the 'hushing-up system' is best. Of course, I would say it's absolutely right for the press to flag this up. If it wasn't for some good journalism by the LEP and others, the death of Mr Armstrong and other healthy people would not have been mentioned. The health authorities have been very keen to keep all details of swine flu deaths secret but only open discussion about all deaths will raise questions such as 'Should people with no underlying health problems take Tamiflu'.