UK rejoices as Pig Flu pandemic declared over

It's official. The UK swine flu pandemic is over. Why? Because the press says so! Millions are not dead, global infrastructure hasn't ground to halt and we all haven't turned into half-pigs, half-zombies wondering the pavements in search of Tamiflu.

This may come as a surprise to many who read newspapers in the UK. At the height of swine flu fever last year, you couldn't open a paper without being blinded by the latest prophecies of social collapse, streets littered with bloated, virus-riddled bodies and the end of the world as we know it.

But now it seems as if we all might have got a little bit carried away. The government announced yesterday (February 4th) that the flu hotline and website that make up the National Pandemic Flu Service will be closed from next week - in the clearest sign yet that the outbreak is subsiding.

Fewer than 5,000 cases of swine flu have been recorded every week for the past six weeks, which is substantially down from the 100,000 confirmed last summer. Around the world, an estimated 14,000 people have died from the virus - a fraction of the number who perished from ordinary flu in the same period.

In light of this news, some publications have sought to blame the government for mishandling the epidemic and sparking a sense of panic that "scared thousands witless". The very same press in fact that sought to drum up widespread fear over the nation's impending doom at the hands of the 'killer virus' last year.

The Daily Express has run a story today entitled Swine Flu scandal, criticising ministers for their "excessive reaction" to the epidemic and the billions of pounds spent on vaccines that will never be used.

Now I know hindsight is a wonderful thing, but you would expect more from a newspaper that published the following stories at the height of pig flu hysteria last year.

*By the way, these capital letters have not been added by me for dramatic effect. The Express has a nasty habit of publishing stories in a style that makes them read like a mentally-ill man bellowing the day's news at you through a megaphone.

SWINE FLU TO KILL 350 A DAY
50,000 DEAD IN MONTHS
HAS LABOR DONE ENOUGH TO COPE WITH SWINE FLU?
SWINE FLU PANIC SWEEPS BRITAIN
ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT SWINE FLU?
SWINE FLU CAN 'PENTRATE DEEP INTO THE LUNGS'
And ludicrously, BRITTANY MURPHY: WAS SHE KILLED BY SWINE FLU?

I could go on and on.

However, other newspapers didn't far much better. The Evening Standard screamed dementedly from its billboards last summer of a SWINE FLU MASS GRAVES PLAN, while the London Lite attempted to brighten the days of up sardine-packed commuters with the hysterical headline PIG FLU MAY KILL 94,000 LONDONERS.

The fact is that thousands of people die from flu every winter and usually because of underlying health problems or old age. In total, swine flu has killed just 411 Britons.

Policy-makers and scientists tend to prepare for future events based on a range of scenarios to ensure that every eventuality is catered for. Journalists have a nasty habit of publishing the worst-case scenarios and making them look like predictions. Why? Because it sells newspapers. So the next time you pick up your paper and read of the impending outbreak of a nasty strain of goat measles that is destined to kill billions, keep calm and carry on.