The media is feeding a frenzy of terror and reaping the benefits of a captive audience who sit glued to their TVs, newspapers and computers as the hysteria over a supposed pandemic is shoved down our throat. The right wing, anxious for anything to fuel American paranoia is spouting some of the most ridiclous propoganda I've ever seen. Even from them their words are extreme.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200904270037?f=h_top

The truth is as far back as 2003 the CDC posted an article http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r030107.htm on the number of deaths yearly from flu and respiratory diseases in the US.

"Using new and improved statistical models, CDC scientists estimate that an average of 36,000 people (up from 20,000 in previous estimates) die from influenza-related complications each year in the United States. In addition, about 11,000 people die per year from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a virus that causes upper and lower respiratory tract infections primarily in young children and older adults. The study demonstrates that most deaths caused by RSV occur in the elderly."

People seem to overlook the fact that not a single non-Mexican resident has died of this disease. The one US victim was in fact a visiting Mexican child. If this was 1918 all over again there would be thousands of sick and dying people, As of this morning there are 51 cases in Canada, and all cases were mild and recovered quickly. In the US, 162 confirmed.

Why the panic? Flu hits us every year, and every year there are thousands who die.This year is no different and no worse than any other year. If this is the way people react to a non-pandemic then what will we do when a real pandemic strikes?

This hysteria does not bode well for a reasoned approach.