Let’s just wait and see before we start to panic

There is really only one thing we can do about the current outbreak of swine flu in Mexico and around the world — wait and see.

We know that the virus is almost certainly spreading from person to person, and that it is a new strain which can spread quickly. Given this, a worldwide pandemic is likely, and London is at very high risk because of the sheer number of people travelling through.

However, what we do not know is just how dangerous this strain is.

I believe that the current mortality figures from Mexico, a naive society in terms of dealing with a pandemic, are out of proportion. The problem has been that only people who are gravely ill are going to their doctors, and I believe there are many, many more who have beaten the virus and who are not being counted.

So far it seems we are dealing with a fairly normal strain of flu. It will spread quickly, but is no more dangerous than the summer flu strains we see.

For people with flu-like symptoms, the advice is exactly the same as normal — rest, take plenty of fluids, and do not return to work until you feel better.

There is also a lot of confusion over Tamiflu, which can treat flu symptoms. Some strains similar to the Mexican swine flu have developed a resistance to it, but at the moment we do not believe that has happened. The government has stockpiled enough to treat one in two people, and I believe this is more than enough. I would definitely caution people about buying their own supplies online — the key to Tamiflu's effectiveness is knowing when and how to administer it. There's also a very good chance that what you buy online at a vastly over-inflated price won't be Tamiflu anyway.

But we need several more weeks of data to see how the virus spreads, and how bad it really is. The next few weeks will be critical, but it really is a case of just wait and see.