>>>>>>http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/140492/Million-hit-by-plague-worse-than-swine-flu-
>>>>>
>>>>>http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iNNTDa8W3qJUuPAfx3fqSsToWvOQ
>>>>
>>>>Thank you.
>>>
>>>This whole flu thing is just so much fear-mongering headline news fodder. People die from many things and this whole flu thing accounts for very few relative to major causes of death.
>>
>>Right. Except every hundred years or so, a strange and strong mutation seems to occur. Maybe, now that we have vaccines, we can avert them from now on.
>
>There is no indication that a "strong mutation" has occurred or, even if it has, whether this will have any real impact on society at large. It is entirely fear mongering, news propaganda using pointless comparisons to a society that was so dramatically different from today’s.

I agree there is a lot of fear mongering among the media. However, here in NC we had seven deaths from the flu last week. What's interesting is that for many years, the seasonal fu was killing 30,000 a year and yet very few were actually getting seasonal flu shots or even knew how many were dying from it. If this media craziness prompts more folks to take precautions (washing hands, sneezing and coughing into their elbows, using disinfectant wipes after touching things that many people touch, etc) and get the flu shots, hopefully deaths from both flu viruses will become fewer in the future.