As a type 1 diabetic for more than 40 years, and a recently retired GP, I am appalled at the way the UK government and the press are treating the present flu epidemic. They have been developing a Pandemic Flu Plan for years, in order to "be prepared" for an avian flu pandemic. The present H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic seems to be a less serious illness than normal seasonal flu, and the English Health Service seems to be handing out Tamiflu, a drug of doubtful benefit and with quite significant side effects, to all and sundry on the basis of a phone call to a call-centre, staffed by people with no medical experience and working to a series of tick boxes, or by completing a series of questions on a web site. For the vast majority of people, the only benefit of the anti-viral drug is to reduce the severity of the symptoms and to shorten their duration by 1 day. I am not certain whether I would want to take the drug, given its side-effect profile.
The organisation of the flu response in England has been chaotic. Thankfully, in Scotland, the response has been more measured and Tamiflu is being offered mainly to people with underlying chronic disease and young people, who seem to be moe susceptible.
WRT possible pre-existing immunity, it appears that the disease is not affecting most over 60s, the suggestion being that they have been exposed to a similar H1N1 virus before. An H1N1 virus has been part of the seasonal flu vaccine for the past 4 or 5 years, and it seems likely that anyone who has had the annual flu vaccination for chronic disease should have a degree of protection.