Swine flu, otherwise known as "H1N1 influenza A," may have arrived in Maryland, with six likely cases identified in Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties, and other possible cases being tested. But just how dangerous the influenza virus will prove to be here and elsewhere remains to be seen. As of late Thursday there had been one U.S. death attributed to the flu, and experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tell us to expect more. But they also note that some form of flu hospitalizes hundreds of thousands and kills 36,000 Americans every year.
