"It became reasonably clear reasonably quickly last time that hundreds and thousands and millions weren't dying. Even when they kept on sort of saying things were happening, and then you saw the numbers, it just didn't add up." (G1) There is evidence that higher levels of general anxiety and perceptions of high risk severity are related to a greater likelihood of carrying out preventive and avoidant protective behaviours [3, 5] . However, it is important to note that this relationship is only present when people with high risk perceptions also know what to do to manage their risk. If people do not know what to do, or question the veracity of the advice offered, they are more likely to respond by denying the risk or transferring it to others [13] . Whilst most of the participants in the general population groups regarded swine flu as "bit of a joke, really" others reported feelings of anxiety, fear or panic. In particular, reports of flu-related deaths gave rise to more serious concern.