It is great to see that the whole world is discussing case reports! Led by the World Health Organisation we are constantly being kept up to date with a growing case series of swine influenza.

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html

The BBC news this morning reported that they are awaiting the outcome of tests on relatives and friends of the first couple to catch the new flu in Scotland. This will help confirm if human to human transmission has occurred in the UK.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8023515.stm

It is clear that case reports and case series are most useful in hypothesis generation and the early reporting of new diseases / adverse reactions.

Should anyone want to publish a case report in a peer-reviewed and dedicated case reports journal then please consider BMJ Case Reports … after you have called the BBC of course.