Swine flu infects the net

HEALTH WEBSITES have had a bad case of swine flu fever over recent weeks as hypochondriacs walloped the sites to learn if their sniffles were something a bit more serious.

According to the AP, Internet traffic to the website of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention soared in April as Americans searched for information about swine flu.

Comscore said the number of unique US visitors to CDC.gov rose by 142 per cent in April compared with the previous month to 5.7 million.

Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of Comscore Media Metrix said that when news of the swine flu pandemic erupted, many Americans turned to the Internet as their primary source of information for how to keep themselves and their families safe.

As a result many of them may now think they are suffering from either swine flu or the bubonic plague when all they really have is a slight case of the spring sniffles.