Sunday, June 14, 2009

Dr. Ellie Cannon in The Daily Mail: Anxious about swine flu? If you're over 60 you can relax

London GP Dr. Ellie Cannon wrote a column on the website of the British newspaper The Daily Mail:

There is good news at last for the older patients in my surgery. If you are over 60, it appears you will be immune to developing swine flu.

That's the interesting pattern doctors and health protection agencies worldwide have noticed, even though this week the World Health Organisation (WHO) officially declared the outbreak a pandemic.

The virus has spread to 74 countries and the mortality rate is similar to that of 'normal' flu, with 141 deaths out of 30,000 cases. You would expect the most vulnerable to be older people - as is the case in our UK winter flu epidemics - but it is not.

It seems to be young adults who are succumbing to swine flu. 'The bulk of cases are among younger people - mainly in their 20s,' says Dr Keiji Fukuda, of the WHO.

Dr. Ellie Cannon in The Daily Mail: Anxious about swine flu? If you're over 60 you can relax

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