Sick- Swine Flu?

I feel like I only value my health when I'm sick, which is ironic, because at that point, it's too late. I had an interesting discussion about my illness with a guy here- it seems, from my symptoms, that I may have contracted the much feared swine flu. (I had a hellishly (no pun intended) high fever for 3 days). The thought that I might have swine flu amuses me endlessly- with all the hype, swine flu appears to be slightly less deadly than the common flu. It seems like America is fiendishly addicted to fear- look at what's on the news- natural disasters, WMDs, wars, and diseases, not to mention child molesters and teens "addicted" to texting. Sure, disasters are entrancing, but at what point do we, in the vernacular of treatment centers, down-regulate to the "chaos" portrayed by the media? Doesn't it seem like the corporations are crying wolf while people over come by the monotony of their lives gluttonously  ingest taller and taller tales? And what would happen if the source of the fear were to diminish- would people, needing their terror "fix" create their own freak shows for the media to decimate? Worse yet- what if the corporations funding the supposedly un-biased news sources decided to throw their weight around? What if they already have?