It's baaaaack ...

Doubled posting today, to make up for not doing so for ages.

And speaking of returns - swine flu looks to be on its way back, according to Sir Liam Donaldson, England's chief medical officer.

More worrying:

Meanwhile, the Health Protection Agency has reported one confirmed case and one possible case of resistance to the flu drug Tamiflu.

There has been less than 30 cases like this worldwide with experts monitoring them for signs that the virus is mutating.

Don't panic! ... (but has swine flu started to mutate?)

The Telegraph, always keen to ask the questions that other feel are moderately irresponsible, is asking whether the ol' piggy sniffles* virus is starting to mutate and become more virulent.

Littered with phrases like "very difficult to be sure", it succeeds only in proving how little we actually know - so speculating really helps no-one.

As our next issue is due to explore, if anything the focus on "AM I GOING TO DIE?!?!?" hides a more important point with a cloak of panic - doesn't the swift and unstoppable nature of swine flu prove that even with all the world's preparation and vigilence we would still be utterly helpless in the face of a more deadly virus?



* we'll get tired of calling it that eventually ... honest!

This little piggy went to hospital ...

The excellent BBC interactive map showing the spread of H1N1 'swine' flu gives a real sense of how patterns of travel and migration have spread the disease to specific countries.

At the same time, the UN's top health official, World Health Organization head Margaret Chan, has said that the spread of the virus worldwide is now unstoppable.

"As we see today, with well over 100 countries reporting cases, once a fully fit pandemic virus emerges, its further international spread is unstoppable," Dr Chan said in her opening remarks.

The virus has entered more than 100 countries, infected more than 70,000 people and killed more than 300 worldwide. While Mexico has seen swine flu cases decrease, the peak of the flu season is approaching in South America - Paraguay has reported its first fatality, while in Central America El Salvador has also recorded its first swine flu death.