I told you so

Some people question the purpose of the list of UK swine flu victims that I run but it is about the only public source of UK data on deaths available at the moment. And as long ago as October 3 I flagged up that women seemed more vulnerable than men. Now there's a bit more scientific credibility lent to this. The World Health Organisation have flagged it up and a Canadian doctor has also raised it in a survey reported in The Vancouver Sun. It's probably too early to prove scientifically that women are more at risk but it will probably encourage more women to take the vaccine being made available in the UK on Wednesay. More worryingly, the Canadian study suggests 70 per cent of those who suffer the most severely (or die) were perfectly healthy beforehand. In this country the HPA have said that one-fifth were previously healthy. Whatever the precise final figure, it shows that young fit and healthy people need to be on their guard as much as asthmatic, pregnant or other at risk folk.