The hype around swine flu seems to have been a false alarm. It is likely that other very powerful forces have been involved, driven more by the desire to sell products than by concern for public safety.

The swine flu vaccine won't be available for months, and it is still not clear whether the companies involved with making the vaccine will change direction. At the moment they are preparing to make the usual infl uenza vaccine based on what is going around currently. Making swine flu vaccines was not on the programme and because of the large number of vaccines required companies must decide whether to produce the swine flu vaccine or the normal influenza vaccine.