Swine Flu. Paranoia vs Reality

Currently, quite some panic is errupting. Its cause? The new flu aka the swine flu.

Discuss here, is it merely paranoia? Sure, many die, but doesn't the entire situation seem exaggerated? The "old" flu claims just as many lifes, the only essential difference: Swine Flu seems to befall children and teenagers a bit more frequently.


IMHO, paranoia. Theres a vacant out there people, and with the US health care system FINALLY going the same way the rest of the world does it, anyone can get it really

EDIT: Good lord my spelling got worse ever since I quit writing in english forums and got into german RP instead....thanks for the hint Juliana, please excuse any miserable and excruciatingly painful flaws on my side >.>

Uh, you mean there's a vaccine, right?

Anyway, the worries concerning swine flu are simply that it showed some of the same early warning signs as the flu that killed a ridiculously large number of people in 1919, and that there might not be enough of the vaccine--either vaccine, for H1N1 or the seasonal flu--to go around. The situation is worrisome, but I agree that at least a part of it is just media hype, compounded by the same human instinct that makes car crashes, the Black Plague, and the French Revolution so fascinating.