I have lived long (if not prospered) and I recall numerous flus. Renaming something is done these days as a substitute for action. I only realised today that OCO has replaced GWOT - the U.S. now has Overseas Contingency Operations, not a Global War on Terror. Same great cast, same vast budget, slightly changed script ... but the acronym is different. H1N1 isn't a name, it's a class of viruses. But using it makes it seem sounds as if someone has done something constructive. Sequencing its genome was useful, for sure, but is hardly a solution if this thing does come back with a vengeance. But like you, I still want someone to explain why this bug is so special. Perhaps it contributed a lot of money to some senator's campaign, and it's owed top billing as a consequence? Skepth