are we meant to be scared of swine flu?

is it that harmful??

No.

it's a media-generated bullshit story.

Meh, just go about your business, and handle it like you normally would with the flu. Besides, there are more pressing issues right now.

It's a virulent strain of influenza.  Stronger than normal but not the frigging plague.
 
 http://www.factcheck.org/2009/04/how-serious-is-swine-flu/
 
 http://www.factcheck.org/2009/04/swine-flu-fact-and-fiction/
 
We have influenza outbreaks every year, but each strain is different and has to be monitored.  If you have news organizations who don't know what to do with the information, their mere mention of it makes people think that it's all over and very destructive.  I'd blame readers as much as media outlets for this, since often people just skim articles and blow the rest out of proportion.

Swine flu is a little different, the older you are, the less likely it is you'll be badly effected.  65+ are the best off.  <25 the worst.

It's no worse than a standard flu. It spreads quicker, you're at no risk from it unless you're elderly or have underlying health issues. But the elderly are unlikely to catch it anyway since they're probably already got an immunity to if from catching a similar strain at some point in their life. 
 
1/3 people who catch it won't even realize they have it - they'll just get on with life assuming they've got a cold. It's really not that bad.

The media is making to much of a deal out of it and it's scaring people.

thanks all. any1 had it then??

the media over dramatizes things all the time