Regular seasonal flu kills 20,000 a year. Swine flu has, in this year and last only killed 8,000 or so far.
Now compare that to 30...
Compare to Spanish flu of 1918, with fewer people in the world killed an estimated 25 million!!!. US toll was in excess of 800,000, some 8 times the number of combat deaths in WWII.
Regular seasonal flu actually kills 34,000 to 36,000 a year and causes 200,000 hospitalizations. What makes H1N1 different is it is killing younger people with healthy immune systems. This indicates that the virus may be causing an immune reaction known as a cytokine storm. Cytokine storms are an extreme immune overreaction that can result in significant tissue / organ damage and death.
So basically, you don't want this bug. When I see people pretending the shot is more harmful than catching the flu, I'm compelled to point out that it's total BS.