The current H1N1 'swine flu' isn't that virulent but it's newness makes a very large percage of the population vulnerable. Another concern is that most dangerous for healthy people in the prime of their lives instead of the very young and very old. The 1918 H1N1 flu killed about 50 million worldwide.
The high mortality in 1918 and in young people is thought due to a 'cytokine storm,' where the body's immune system is overstimulated. Echinacea and several other herbal supplements have been thought to stimulate the production of cytokines and should be avoided
Preventing Swine Flu and Other VirusesPrimer - Cytokine StormThe new H1N1 strain is based primarily on an unusual virus that has been circulating widely in U.S. pigs since the 1990s. That "triple reassortant" flu is actually a combination of classic swine flu, a North American avian flu and a strain of human flu.
Somehow, a single pig became simultaneously infected with that virus and a pure swine flu strain found in pigs in Europe and Asia. The two strains swapped genetic material to produce the new H1N1 strain, which then began to infect humans.
But there are theories. One is that a person in Asia became infected with the Eurasian swine flu, then traveled to North America and passed it along to a pig here that already had the triple reassortant virus. That would explain why the outbreak began in Mexico and the United States.
The H1 and N1 in the seasonal flu are both from humans. But new H1N1 is more virulent because most people never encountered it before, so they have no pre-existing immunity.
2 flu strains in 1 pig led to new H1N1
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