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Swine Flu Is Not Becoming More Serious

Posted on: Sunday, 6 September 2009, 08:25 CDT

Despite the fact that the pandemic flu virus continues to infect many parts of the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) says it is not becoming more serious.

The death toll has hit 2,837 across the world, but the WHO says they are not counting every case anymore.

The strain known as swine flu is being watched carefully by the United Nations agency,  but it said no mutations have been found that could indicate that it is any more deadly than before.

"It is not causing more severe illness than before, there have been no changes in the behavior of the virus," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl stated in a news briefing.

"We are continuing to see increased number of deaths because we are seeing many, many more cases."

Though approximately one-quarter of a million cases have been laboratory-confirmed across the globe, the WHO says that the number is considered to be modest compared to the actual number, which they no longer require its 193 member states to report.

The last update of August 28 revealed at least 2,185 deaths, meaning an additional 652 deaths have been reported last week alone.

The WHO estimates that the virus has the potential to infect 2 billion people, or one-third of the world's population.

Seasonal influenza kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people globally each year, it says. However, H1N1 is causing a year-round flu season that may lead to the infection of more people than would a typical seasonal virus, which has the potential to end in a greater number of fatalities.

"In the best case scenario we have today, we will still have a moderate virus that is projected to cause several million deaths," Dr. Tammam Aloudat, senior health officer at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told a separate news briefing.

"Which means that even in the best case scenario, we do have an emergency on our hands, an emergency of a scale different from what we have seen before in the modern era," he said.

On Friday, the Federation, which is the world's largest disaster relief network, officially set an information campaign in motion to assist the poorest communities reduce risk of infection through simple hygiene measures.

Swine flu, categorized as a pandemic on June 11, can cause a multitude of minor symptoms, but has resulted in death for more people with pre-existing medical conditions, like as asthma, or women who are pregnant. These people are urged to get treated with the antiviral Tamiflu by Roche Holding AG, WHO says.

An “increasing or sustained high level of respiratory disease” has been reported by tropical regions of many countries in South and Southeast Asia, although Thailand has reported a decline in H1N1 cases, according to the WHO's latest update.

The report said Latin American countries, such as Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Brazil are claiming to see more respiratory disease, while outbreaks seem to have peaked in Chile and Argentina.

Japan has reported an early start to its regular flu season, while Canada and the United States say influenza activity remains "low overall," even with increases in the southeastern U.S. region.

With warnings from experts that a second wave of the virus is due to hit as weather cools in the northern hemisphere and the traditional flu season begins, drug makers are racing to produce vaccines.

Novartis AG  made a statement on Thursday, saying that a single dose of its vaccine might protect against the virus, which eases the fear that supplies will be tight and limited with the onset of mass immunization this month.

According to Hartl, the initial results are "encouraging," and he mentioned that any vaccine that can be given in one single dose would significantly increase the number of overall available doses.

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On the Net:

• WHO
• CDC
• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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