Seven - not 159 - swine flu deaths in Mexico

How many people have died from swine flu so far?  If you believe what you read in the newspapers, you might think around 159 people have died in Mexico from the H1N1 virus.  They haven’t – it’s just seven.

Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and Mexico’s own health minister Jose Angel Cordova have confirmed the figure.  The WHO’s Vivienne Allan, from its patient safety program, says: “Unfortunately that (150-plus deaths) is incorrect information and it does happen, but that’s not information that’s come from the World Health Organization.  I repeat, the death toll is seven and they are all from Mexico.”

Since her announcement, the first American citizen has died, but it’s hardly the stuff of a pandemic.  Nonetheless, the WHO has now elevated swine flu to a ‘phase five’ pandemic, where there has been human-to-human spread in at least two countries.

Despite the facts, the UK government’s health officials have predicted that up to 750,000 Britons could die in a flu pandemic, and its health minister, Alan Johnson, has told the House of Commons that there have been 89 deaths from the virus in Mexico, so he’s off by a factor of 12.

Unless you’re a drug company, you have to wonder why governments – and the media - are acting so irresponsibly. 
If you’re interested in a conspiracy theory, look no further than Indonesia and its health minister Siti Faldilah Supari who says she has not ruled out the possibility that the H1N1 virus is man-made.