My brother is being treated for it after arriving home from Spain on Tuesday feeling unwell. He's in quite a bad way and they have given him Tamiflu. He also has Cystic Fibrosis so it's very bad for him to get any kind of flu.
He should be ok but it definately is not something I would want my grandparents to catch. I would think that anybody over the age of 70 that catches this flu has a very high risk of dying from it. Basically if you are between 15 and 55 and are fit and healthy, no health issues and have a reasonably healthy diet then this flu isn't something you need to worry too much about but if you have a chesty cough or have damaged your lungs through smoking or generally have damaged/weak lungs then this flu is something to be concerned about.
Generally I'm happy that my kid bro has got it now because while it is relatively mild it's a good time to catch it before it mutates into a more serious form of flu. Effectively by catching it he has now had a vaccine for it so when it does mutate he may get a mild dose of it rather than the full whack of it which could prove fatal.
There is no need to panic, but make sure you look after the old people. The worst thing you can do at the moment is to go visiting old people so if you need to speak to them then phone them up rather than visit them.
Chris.
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