But test results received last Thursday confirmed local man Gary Phillips as one of the first people in the Peel region to have contracted swine flu.

The 33-year-old became unwell after a recent trip to Melbourne.

Mr Phillips initially dismissed his symptoms as being caused by a common cold but by the end of last week when he hadn’t got any better he went to see a doctor.

“I was pretty sick,” he said.

“It knocked me for six.”

Mr Phillips had swabs taken from his nose and throat as well as a blood test after he requested the procedures be done.

“I honestly did not believe I had it,” he said.

“I thought I might have had a chest infection but not swine flu.”

Fortunately for Mr Phillips, who owns a number of recruiting companies, the worst of the illness appears to have passed.

“I’m a lot better now,” he said.

“I still have a bit of a cough and a runny nose but the antibiotics have worked great.”

Mr Phillips was even cleared to fly to Singapore this week, although he was advised to wear a surgical mask as his immune system may be compromised.

He believed the swine flu pandemic had been blown out of proportion by the media and the realities of the illness were much less severe than people had been led to believe.

“It’s getting out of control,” Mr Phillips said.

“I wish people would stop talking it up.

“If it’s that bad, then people should be tested, but if it’s nothing to worry about they should stop freaking people out.”

He said people needed to keep things in perspective and realise that, in most cases, swine flu was just like a “nasty cold”.

“There needs to be more education about this,” he said.

“It’s been blown out of proportion