How Bad Is It?

Megan looks at the swine flu mortality numbers:

The mortality in Mexico is shockingly high:  81 cases out of 1300, or about 6%.  The great Spanish Flu pandemic, on the other hand, had a mortality of about 2.5%.  Normal rates for flu are less than a tenth of 1%, with most of those deaths occurring in people who are already weak:  children, the elderly, the immunocompromised.  The Spanish Flu hit hardest the 15-34 age group, who seem to have been done in by their own strong immune response.  It's not clear which pattern this flu follows.

...this seems more worrying than SARS was, and SARS was pretty worrying.  And if it gets much bigger, it will deal a heavy blow to an already struggling world economy, because this will have deep impacts on global trade flows. 

Effect measure, a blog written by health scientists, asks: "What did you expect?" and ScienceInsider wants more details. Both are more sedate than anything you will see on cable.