Stat of the day

The Washington Post reports on fatalities from the swine flu which the media collectively freaked out about last year:

About 57 million Americans, or slightly more than 18 percent of the population, have contracted pandemic H1N1 influenza since April, federal public health officials said Friday. 

About 11,690 people have died and nearly 260,000 have been hospitalized from the viral infection, which is also known as swine flu. Adults age 18 to 64 have been hit much harder than children and the elderly; they account for 58 percent of the infections and hospitalizations and 76 percent of the deaths. 

That's a fatality rate of about 0.02%. Furthermore, to keep the number of swine flu fatalities in perspective, the "regular" flu typically results in 36,000 deaths per year in the U.S.