I refer to Daphne Caruana Galizia’s piece entitled Hey, guess what? Pigs just flu (TMIS, 5 July).

Not everyone who has died of swine flu has died of complications compounded by other health problems. Many have – but some can be attributed to swine flu and nothing else. See one example in the US here: http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/49390677.html And the younger the person, the higher the risk, especially if this is their first exposure to influenza. Most types kill.

Swine flu has struck at least 77,201 people in 113 nations worldwide, killing 332, according to laboratory-confirmed reports compiled by the World Health Organisation, which has declared the first flu pandemic since 1968. While the virus causes little more than a fever and cough in most people, a previous study showed that about 40 per cent of those infected have developed symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting and nausea. (see www.bloomberg.com)

I wonder from where Dr Daphne gets her evidence for such sweeping statements. She does not go anywhere for evidence – she just thinks it and then writes it.

People should seek their doctor’s opinion and not that of a columnist who constantly fails to ignore pure facts and has now taken on the mantle of medical expert.

Given her popularity, her complacency regarding this very real problem is indeed very dangerous and possibly criminal. She is not a medico – she should not be allowed to express such views without the back up of appropriate research or, at the very least, the support of a recognised expert in the field.

Raphael Dingli

WATSON

AUSTRALIA