20,000 to 30,000 elderly die each year in the US from influenza. The SARS issue is that based on the limited numbers of people that have come down with SARS this is a highly lethal sickness with deaths between 4% - 5%.
Extrapolate that to millions coming down with SARS and you can see why it's a big deal.
William Hung is to American Idol as Sarah Palin is to the Vice Presidency