Swine Flu Less Dangerous Than Normal Influenza

The market finally seems to have woken up to the fact that the "world-wide pandemic" of swine flu is in reality far less dangerous than many in the media would have us believe.

In fact swine flu is responsible for far fewer deaths than normal influenza which kills 400,000 people globally every year, of which 36,000 are in the US.

More than 200,000 people are hospitalised by "normal" influenza every year, according to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

"It’s a situation where we should be cautious but not panicky," said Susan Rehm, medical director for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

"From what we understand so far, the severity doesn’t seem to be much different than what it is in regular seasonal influenza," Rehm said.