Pandemic?

I was watching tv, and saw something about how to prevent the spread of disease, and the panic going aroundbecause of the death toll of a certain virus. (I'm looking at YOU, 2009 H1N1) Let me clarify things for you.

You IDIOTS.

The latest death toll I heard for the 2009 Swine Flu virus (please correct me if you have a more recent count) was 86 children. Yes, it's terrible, but all this hullabalooza is overkill. A direct quotation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

"The number of influenza-associated (i.e., flu-related) deaths varies from year
to year because flu seasons often fluctuate in length and severity. CDC
estimated that about 36,000 people died of flu-related causes each year, on
average, during the 1990s in the United States. This figure includes people
dying from complications of flu. This estimate came from a 2003 study published
in the Journal of the American Medication Association (JAMA), which looked at
the 1990-91 through the 1998-99 flu seasons. Statistical modeling was used to
estimate how many flu-related deaths occurred among people whose underlying
cause of death on their death certificate was listed as a respiratory or
circulatory disease. During these years, the number of estimated deaths ranged
from 17,000 to 52,000.
In 2009, CDC published additional estimates of
flu-related deaths comparing different methods, including the methods used in
the 2003 JAMA study. The seasons studied included the 1993-94 through the
2002-03 flu seasons. Results from this study showed that during this time
period, 36,171 flu-related deaths occurred per year, on average."

See? I told you so. I so told you so. The Swine flu is not as much of a problem as the seasonal flu, and is, with a little common sense, (i.e., wash your hands) easily preventable. *grumbles*
_{My God, people are stupid.}