In the past 3 decades deaths associated with influenza were by a third lower than expected. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in the 1976-2007 period, the yearly figure amounted to 23,607 deaths against the expected 36,000. The latter figure was hammered on by the media to emphasize the seriousness of the ‘suine flu’. 90% of the reported deaths were people over 65 years of age.