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Remember the swine flu pandemic? It was the disease that swept the world last year, sparking a global health emergency and costing the UK alone at least ?1bn.
Plans were made to cope with up to 65,000 deaths in Britain after the virus emerged in Mexico in April 2009 and began its journey round the world. The Government ordered 132 million doses of vaccine ? two for every person in the country ? and launched a National Flu Pandemic Service to hand out millions of courses of Tamiflu to ward off the killer threat.
Now experts say pandemic flu ended up saving lives rather than costing them ? by driving out seasonal flu, which targets the more vulnerable elderly. Official figures published last week show there was a dramatic drop in deaths last winter, the coldest for 30 years. Excess winter mortality was 30 per cent lower in 2009-10 than in the milder winter of 2008-09.
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Plans were made to cope with up to 65,000 deaths in Britain after the virus emerged in Mexico in April 2009 and began its journey round the world. The Government ordered 132 million doses of vaccine ? two for every person in the country ? and launched a National Flu Pandemic Service to hand out millions of courses of Tamiflu to ward off the killer threat.
Now experts say pandemic flu ended up saving lives rather than costing them ? by driving out seasonal flu, which targets the more vulnerable elderly. Official figures published last week show there was a dramatic drop in deaths last winter, the coldest for 30 years. Excess winter mortality was 30 per cent lower in 2009-10 than in the milder winter of 2008-09.
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