Licence to play truant
Saturday, May 2, 2009 On the front page of today's Daily Mail it reads: "Swine flu: now we're hit by an epidemic of sickies". Last night I heard of a letter sent to parents that reads (I paraphrase): "If your child is feeling at all unwell (headache, runny nose, any aches and pains), keep them at home".
Are they mad?! How often have you heard a child say "I don't feel well", especially on a school day? (It's in their DNA.) My daughter has a runny nose. Are we going to keep her off school? Are we hell!
Update: on Five Live's Fighting Talk this morning someone made the point that in America last year 30,000 people died of flu. To date, no-one has died in America from this particular strain. And even in Mexico, where it allegedly started, the death toll is less than 200. Go figure, as they say.
Update: the BBC is currently reporting that "Flu death toll 'less that feared': "Mexico's health minister revises down the number of suspected swine flu deaths in the country from 176 to 101". Story HERE.
Reader Comments (1)
If the number of cases of swine flu can be revised downwards from 176 to 101 in the space of a week, there seems every reason to suppose that they might be revised down by an equal number in the coming week, to just 25 deaths. Or maybe even less.
One has to question whether they have any idea at all who has died of what. It is encouraging to discover that the epidemiology of swine flu is as bad as passive smoking 'epidemiology'. Or perhaps not quite that bad just yet.