Fear of swine flu is running rampant in Germany as the number of reported cases — and deaths — continues to grow. Doctors’ offices are inundated by people wanting to get the vaccine, which is in short supply. But health professionals are divided over how dangerous the virus really is.

Death from swine flu comes unexpectedly, as was the case with six-year-old Kharra Skye Davis from Hot Springs, Arkansas, who spent 20 hours fighting for her life, and with Kyree James Gamble, 5, from Littlestown, Pennsylvania. Both were healthy children, and both lost their lives before they had truly begun.

In the case of Kharra, who died in September, the cause of death was respiratory failure. The little girl had attended a birthday party, and by that evening she had a fever of 40.5 degrees Celsius (105 degrees Fahrenheit). Kharra quickly developed pneumonia, and by the next day … More