Really. . .
They hyped it because it is something that comes on looking very docile and actually like a cold, and then - BAM - you end up with RSV (a very serious, deadly respiratory infection), which for children can be deadly if not caught early.
It starts out looking like it is nothing, and for a lot of people, it IS nothing. But it then evolves into more, and for so many it is deadly. It doesn't take much for it to kill, and it is something that without that little "fire" started by the media and the politicians could actually have been that "black plague" that you speak of. It was PROACTIVE instead of REACTIVE, which was the largest thing that is saving so many.
Now, ask me how I know this. Because I ended up with a hospitalized 4 year old little girl that almost died from this "no big deal" thing. She has had the flu numerous times in her young life, and usually got through it in 24 hours. And when she got this bout, I thought nothing of it - just another flu and it will be done in 24 hours. And that was how I treated it, until she stopped breathing. As a mother, the most frightening thing in the world is to sit there and watch as grown men fight to save your child's life. And then she was in the hospital for almost 2 weeks fighting for her life. My life STOPPED for those 2 weeks. My husband's life STOPPED for those 2 weeks. "No big deal?" Tell me that when you are in my or my husband's shoes.
I am willing to guess you are not a parent. Because if you were, this would not be your vent.