Superheroes tackle Swine Flu- or perhaps not?

It came through the letterbox this week, the information leaflet about Swine Flu; this is the most devastating plague to sweep the world since…… the last devastating plague. Which was SARS or Bird Flu, well something like that, I don’t know which. It was set to wipe out half the population of the world, but didn’t.The present government have spent £7.000.000, seven million, producing these Swine Flu leaflets, on the best quality, non-recycled paper, in colour, for our benefit, not theirs. I want to ask a question and I want an honest answer.Have you read the Swine Flu leaflet?Did the family gather round the table and all read and discuss the implications of Swine Flu, thought not. Here are some of the instructions. Learn how to blow you nose on a paper tissue and then, just in case you did not realise, dispose of the tissue or bin it. Then wash your hands with soap and hot water or a sanitiser gel. Remember Catch it, Bin it, Kill it. No I didn’t come up with that catchy phrase, it’s in the leaflet that you did not read. What was wrong with the old phrase “coughs and sneezes, spread diseases” Which marketing guru was paid vast sums to come up with the new ditty? How many focus groups has it taken to put together this pathetic attempt to distract us from the real disease this country suffering from.Another thing the leaflet tells you is set up a network of “flu friends” these are neighbours, friends and relatives “who will collect medicines food and other supplies, so that you don’t have to leave the house”Have you got a “flu friend”? Who are you going to contact and ask to be your “flu friend”, won’t they be pleased. When I went Scuba Diving I had a dive buddy, some one to look out for me if I got in trouble, “flu buddy” sounds so much better don’t you think.The leaflet tells you to “Always carry tissues” would it not have been a better idea to hand out packets of tissues instead of this patronising leaflet. You must keep the leaflet safe, safe from what “Swine Flu” There was no need to waste our money on this leaflet, the newspapers, every television, including the children’s channels and every web site were devoting time and space to the “Swine Flu” outbreak. If there is any one who has not read a paper, seen the television news programmes or listened to the radio and was not aware of Swine Flu, they are in a home for the bewildered or from the planet Zog and this leaflet is not going to make any difference to them.Our Policitical Masters in the House of Common Criminals are up to their necks in an expenses scandal, which in a more honourable age, would have brought down the Government, but our Members of Parliament are not budging. They have their snouts firmly in the trough.I think it is about time that we, the electorate, show our displeasure with the Politicians. We need to track down our MPs, show them we are not happy. Lets have a campaign to get rid of them.What we need is a nice catchy phrase, how about?CATCH IT, KILL IT, BIN IT,I commend the idea to the House.

Dear sceptics, in all fairness, flu usually proves fatal only for the frail elderly and infirm, and this is not so for this flu. Agreed that there are noses in the trough though; wherever there is money to be made, this is always true. However, even if it does not have a higher mortality rate as yet, it is killing much younger, healthier people than normal flu would. I was kidding about with a Canadian relative about the media hype, i.e. swine flu equals certain death, and she mentioned a young acquaintance who had died, a regular gym-goer with young children. Perhaps in the UK we have more in-built resistance with flu being common every year.

To be fair, I'd rather it were fact based rather than the general "sneeze and catch" message that's plastered everywhere. It looks good and the rest of the series (from your link) looks better suited to chronic diseases rather than pandemics.

I work at a primary school in Derbyshire. We’ve used a few of these Medikidz titles in the past and found them to be a really helpful way of helping kids in our class understand the illnesses that they (or their parents, or friends, or siblings) might have. I haven’t seen the swine flu comic, but as a teacher I can tell you that a lot of the children I teach are worried about catching swine flu, or know people who have already caught swine Flu. Even if the media has blown swine flu out of proportion, the kids I teach don’t really understand this: they’re scared because they keep hearing about swine flu and see their friends and family getting sick. I think a comic on swine flu is a great idea if it helps address kids’ concerns, as well as teaching them something at the same time. As for the hand gel sanitiser, I’m sure you’d see the point if you worked in a school: as teachers we welcome any steps that help to stop the flu from spreading!

My daughter has recently come down with swine flu and I'm quite concerned about her, as she's really unwell. She'll be off school, and this seems like a good resource. Where can I get a copy of the book from?