that was not a troll!
The people who are the trolls are the people who are making a mockery out of this!
Infectious disease experts are starting to criticise Australia's swine flu containment policy, instead pushing for it to be treated like any other seasonal flu.
The number of cases of the new strain of H1N1 influenza has now passed 200.
Thousands of people are in quarantine and authorities are trying to trace everyone who may have been in contact with the virus.
Nationally, preventative measures are in overdrive.
Professor Peter Collignon from ANU's School of Clinical Medicine says authorities should let the swine flu run its course.
"Initially, we had information from Mexico that suggested this was much more aggressive," he said.
"It was entirely appropriate, but from what I can see from other places - particularly Los Angeles and Canada - they are treating this as normal seasonal influenza now.
"I think there would be a lot of arguments that we might go along the same way."
Battling the outbreak
Privately, there are workers on the frontline battling this local outbreak who feel the same, but they do not want to publicly upset the official, conservative approach to swine flu.
The health system is operating at a level of activity which insiders say will not be sustainable for much longer.
Professor Collignon says the public health system is at its limit of what it can do to contain swine flu.
"We have only really been at this for really over a week, with even small numbers of patients on a national scale - a couple of hundred," he said.
'Contain' to 'sustain'
Eight schools - including seven in Victoria - have been closed. The tracing of possible infected people has begun and anti-viral medication is being used on potentially sick people.
AFL competition leader St Kilda has taken no chances. The team has travelled north for a game, leaving a state trying to fight back the flu.
Queensland Health chief officer Dr Jeannette Young says Victoria is struggling with the swine flu.
Queensland confirmed its 10th case of the virus earlier today; a Gold Coast woman who was a passenger on the Pacific Dawn cruise ship.
The Pacific Dawn is due in Brisbane tomorrow and Sydney on Monday. For all purposes it is being treated like a plague ship.
With the virus moving through the community, Professor Collignon says it may be time to step up Australia's pandemic alert level from contain to sustain.
It is expected Australia's pandemic plan will shift to sustain phase if there is a large escalation in the number of cases.
Most local cases of swine flu are mild, although a handful of people have had a stay in hospital.
Most experts expect it to stay that way but cannot rule out future deaths.
Epidemiologists and computer modellers expect 10 to 30 per cent of the population will catch this flu variant over the coming flu season.
Let swine flu run its course: expert - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
