Despite at least 24 people being killed this year by the H1N1 strain of the Influenza virus, better known as "Swine Flu", journalists have in general remained indifferent towards the whole saga.
"To be honest, we milked the story to death last year, and we really can't be bothered with the same old thing over again this time around.", said Sue Nightingale, Deputy Editor for Outbreaks and Pandemics at The Sun.
Several writers have claimed that the virus should be given a new name this year to keep media interest alive, others claim an entirely new and more media-friendly virus would be required.
"We had Bird Flu, we had SARS, we had Swine Flu last year, and really they need to come up with something different if they want it to be newsworthy.", said Dougal Banks from the sub-bacteriological desk at The Telegraph, "Something that made your eyeballs bleed or your hands go blue and fall off, that'd be different and something we'd certainly want to write about."
"But Swine Flu is so 2009. I feel sorry for those who have died, but if you want to get into the papers, catch something new this winter please."
