New Cold Virus "No Cause For Alarm"

A mutated version of the common cold virus has killed ten people in the last 18 months. Further variations of the respiratory bug have infected 140 people all over the United States. The “Ad14” adenovirus is highly resistant to antiviral medication and infects its hosts indiscriminately, landing healthy adults in hospital beds just as often as sickly infants. Yet no plans exist to administer vaccinations.
Should we be scared? Does this supposed viral threat deserve the same amount of media attention and panic as the infectious heavy-hitters of yesteryear? We all remember SARS and the infamous “bird flu” scares in the past decade, but all that remains of such deadly dangers are their memory and a hearty scoff at the notion that they were thought to be the harbingers of human destruction. Who cares about bird flu now? It seems that Ad14 is yet another chapter in the grim and endless cycle of needless fears that are juggled in front of us. Being a relatively new phenomenon in epidemiology, the Ad14 virus has just begun to work its magic for the media.
Most news sources are currently downplaying the danger (see link at bottom of page), but it only takes a few more deaths before they decide to inflate this minor problem into a full-blown pandemic. It is only a matter of time before we start seeing simulations of an apocalyptic and disease-ridden future like those produced by the media for SARS and bird flu. Some news networks are already hyperbolizing the threat, offering headlines and phrases like “Virulent form of cold virus worries experts,” and “Killer cold kills woman” (MSNBC).
If you compare the two links I have provided about this issue, you will notice a blatant level of exaggeration and alarmism in the MSNBC article. It claims the virus is “worrying experts,” “can cause severe respiratory disease at any age,” and quotes the spokesman for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases as saying “this is a big alert.” Multiple sidebars on the site provide links to more focused articles with taglines like “lethal cold kills teen.” The other site (Earthlink) says in the second paragraph: “CDC officials don't consider the mutation to be a cause for alarm for most people, and they're not recommending any new precautions for the general public.”
There is an opinion among some retired journalists that “the media” does not slant the news or operate according to a certain agenda. In this case I think the bias is clear, the quotes are one-sided, and the message is fear.