H1N1 Virus: Paranoia going too far?

From what I can tell so far, the paranoia is because of the fear that it could mutate into something like the 1918 Spanish influenza. The fear all started because like the 1918 influenza, it came in the spring and was relatively mild but it came back in the fall/winter as something deadly.
Fear of history repeating itself + Misinformation + Overreaction = present day mess.