Is the Iceland Volcanoes the new swine flu scare?

I have read numerous reports that if Katla erupts and Eyjafjallaj�kull continues to erupt then we will be in some sorts of apocalypse, many reports claim that if Katla erupts, then everyone will be effected, for instance they keep going back to the eruption in 1821 and claimed that 8,000 people died. Do you think that the media will make this worse then it really is like he Swine Flu epidemic, which frightened millions in the Western Worlds.