Splash Damage
Most people won't die from it unless they're really young or really old.

Umm… lol!

The only reason that swine flu is considered a problem at all because it can kill ANYONE: young, fit, healthy, and strong individuals. Just as much as anybody else.

But they've cracked down on it nice and thoroughly, and it's because of THAT not the fact that it isn't serious that it probably won't cause us a problem.

It IS serious and could kill you, but the various health authorities around the world that are dealing with this problem are doing a good job. of it.

This attitude of “LOLZ it's nothing really” is as stupid as “Oh noes, we're all gonna die and teh pigs will take over!”

cartoonprofessor
There are three theories as to why the Spanish flu killed off the young and healthy… can't remember the other two, but one of them was that a healthy person's immune system kicks in so hard that their immune system is actually what kills them!

Oh right. I heard about that theory some time ago. Something about that the white blood cells break down the cell walls in your lung, causing it to fill with fluids. I'd forgotten about that.

some people at my school have swine flu!! and here's the kicker– they “quarantined” the two students… by storing them in my dorm hall. oink, oink.

Swine Flu is now in an official “decline” stage in Mexico. I hope the non-stop terror everyone put themselves through for the last few weeks was worth it. Morons.

Here's a useful site for finding out if you have swine flu: http://doihaveswineflu.org/

Custard Trout
Here's a useful site for finding out if you have swine flu: http://doihaveswineflu.org/

am i going to die :(

Not too much of a problem, just apply plenty of oinkment and that should stop sufferers coming out in rashers. Ha! but yeah, I'm bricking it about all this because of all the people who died of avian flu and SARS, half the population of the world keeps dying!

What are you getting at? SARS didnt kill that many people. It's fatality rate was rather high compared to things like e-coli (whch carries at most a 5-7% death rate), but you're much more likely to die in a car crash than actually catch AND die of SARS.

Someone
between the months of November 2002 and July 2003, with 8,096 known infected cases and 774 deaths (a case-fatality rate of 9.6%)

vs.

Motor vehicle crashes in the United States result in more than 40,000 deaths per year, says the Institute in the journal Injury Prevention. That is, on each of the 6,209 consecutive days included in this study, an equivalent of a plane load or more of people died on the roads.

Despite the media harking on about how dangerous and wide spread these infectious diseases are (and granted they're still not something you want to catch), you have more odds of preventing them by taking good care of yourself and making sure to wash hands and avoid areas that may seem dirty or sell dirty foods than you would be able to prevent someone from t-boning your car and driving you off a cliff.

Product Placement
The government of Mexico is saying confirmed case of 81 dead. I have no reasons not to believe them.

I guess the difference is that all those other strains that kill thousands every year, aren't hyped up because they are exist everywhere, thus we're constantly exposed to them. They normally kill only the old and sick and that those deaths are spread across an entire nation and throughout the entire year. This new one is spreading relatively fast, makes young and healthy people very ill and has several kills under its belt in just few days in a relatively small area. Over 40.000 people die from car crashes every year, yet we get reports from pile ups.

It's a standard procedure for the WHO to raise an alarm so they can tackle a new player out there while it's manageable. It's that standard “better safe then sorry” policy that America is famous for following by heart. It may turn out to be one of those bad sniffles we get every 5 years or it could turn out to become the next big plague. In case of the latter I'd be happy to have a head start on it.

Exactly.

As annoying as the whooping over some new flu every few years is; it is muchbetter to be safe than sorry, in this case.

With the way this thing is spreading, I agree with this. Better to nip this in the bud before it gets any further.

Oh, and about that avatar… I'm gonna say “no” to tacos. The last time I ate a few I nearly caused the Universe to end with “The Big Rip”…

Kral

Product Placement
The government of Mexico is saying confirmed case of 81 dead. I have no reasons not to believe them.

I guess the difference is that all those other strains that kill thousands every year, aren't hyped up because they are exist everywhere, thus we're constantly exposed to them. They normally kill only the old and sick and that those deaths are spread across an entire nation and throughout the entire year. This new one is spreading relatively fast, makes young and healthy people very ill and has several kills under its belt in just few days in a relatively small area. Over 40.000 people die from car crashes every year, yet we get reports from pile ups.

It's a standard procedure for the WHO to raise an alarm so they can tackle a new player out there while it's manageable. It's that standard “better safe then sorry” policy that America is famous for following by heart. It may turn out to be one of those bad sniffles we get every 5 years or it could turn out to become the next big plague. In case of the latter I'd be happy to have a head start on it.

Exactly.

As annoying as the whooping over some new flu every few years is; it is muchbetter to be safe than sorry, in this case.