After all the excitement over swine flu: the hysterical predictions; the regular briefings; the resource centres; the blame; the blogs; the embarrassing ministerial interventions… could the worst of it be over?

Swine and seasonal flu cases have fallen below the levels normally seen for seasonal flu, according to new figures, and a third wave of swine flu is not thought likely.

The DoH held the last of its weekly swine flu briefings last week, spelling the end of an era for the journos who gathered with experts to discuss swine flu activity; the finer points of sneezing techniques; and all manner of complicated sciencey things. Fortnightly bulletins are now expected to suffice.

We should really be delighted that the ‘pandemic’ fizzled out so quietly, though it is a bit of a let down after all the build up last year. And, of course, it spells the imminent departure of likeable CMO Professor Liam Donaldson, who will leave in May unless swine flu rallies at the last moment. (The fate of the CMO and the H1N1 virus have been intrinsically linked since he held off retiring last year in order to supervise the response to swine flu.)

Then again, swine flu has brought a fair amount of additional work, stress and chaos to the lives of GPs and practice nurses coping with the initial hysteria; the genuinely ill; the worried well; and the vaccination of priority patients.

It also resulted in an unseemly squabble between the GPC and DoH who were unable to agree a national framework for GPs to vaccinate the under fives, leaving health trusts and LMCs to put plans in place.

So perhaps it’s just as well that it’s on the way out; it could be said that it has lasted just as long as we needed it to, providing a bit of excitement that peaked at the least eventful period of last year. Now we have SNOW and we are in the official run-up to a general election, we have no more need of H1N1.

All we’re left with is an interesting conspiracy theory: that The WHO and drug companies concocted a ‘false pandemic’ around swine flu, creating ‘one of the greatest medicine scandals of the century.’

Sounds like the a great plot for a new Bond film, to me.