However, doctors questioned whether swine flu would have the
same effect in the United States. Horvitz noted that reporting
methods for influenza in Mexico are different from those here.
Rutherford, meanwhile, noted that the more rural nature of the
country means that older people living in more remote areas
would not have gained the immunity that older Americans gained
from previous strains of the virus that spread. The number of
younger people affected has been one of the driving forces
behind concerns about swine flu. "It's a very different
calculation if any illness is killing people 80 years old
instead of 8 years old," said Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow
for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations. She
explained that even if the death toll is lower than that of
other years, the number of years of life lost may be much
higher. But others said H1N1 needs to be compared to other
hazards of daily life. "While 4,000 deaths seem like a lot more
than 1,200, and each death is a tragedy, it still appe