Stories like this enrage me. Why? Let’s take a look at the story’s strapline on the front page as of right now:
A patient with swine flu and other health problems has died, a Scottish government spokesman has confirmed.
Right, so a patient, who has flu… you with me so far? Died. Ok, that’s fine. The important detail is also included near the top of the story:
The patient, who had underlying health problems, is understood to have died while being treated at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.
Of course, the general public will ignore the bits I have bolded here. It’s written as a scare story with the facts only mentioned in passing. The media, already known for blowing things out of proportion, are just at it again. It’s a well known fact, even with normal Flu variants, that if you have underlying health problems, the risk of complications is high. Nice one BBC News, I notice you failed to mention that little detail.
