GENEVA - The A (H1N1) influenza, also known as swine flu, has escalated into the world's first influenza pandemic in 40 years, the World Health Organization declared Thursday, after infecting tens of thousands of people in 74 countries.
WHO Director General Margaret Chan said the declaration of a "moderate" pandemic should not spark panic and did not mean the death toll from A(H1N1), which currently stands at 144, would rise sharply.
The UN body said it was not recommending the closure of borders nor restrictions in movement of people, goods and services. But it warned the virus was spreading beyond the Americas where it was first detected in April.
"We will be raising our pandemic alert level to level six; and this means that the world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century," Chan told reporters after a meeting of scientific experts.
"At this time, the global assessment is that we are seeing a moderate pandemic," she added.
The latest WHO figures show that the number of reported A(H1N1) infections has reached 28,774 in 74 countries, including 144 deaths.
The vast majority of the deaths have been in Mexico, the original epicentre of the outbreak, and no deaths have been announced outside the Americas.
"Moving to pandemic phase six level does not imply we will see increase in number of deaths or very severe cases," said Chan.
"Quite on the contrary, many people having mild disease will recover without medicine in some cases, and it is good news, but the tendency to move into complacency is our biggest concern," she added.
Chan said the health agency is concerned that the virus is causing "very severe disease disproportionately" among people 30 to 50 years old.
WHO Assistant Director General Keiji Fukuda warned the pandemic could last up to two years.
"For a period for one to two years the virus is going around the world, and is getting people infected in a way a pandemic virus will get people infected... We need to be flexible how we respond to it," said Fukuda.
The declaration comes amid growing evidence that the virus, which originated in Mexico two months ago, is now being widely transmitted between humans in Asia and Europe as well as the Americas.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the announcement was not "a cause for alarm" as it reflected the geographical spread of the disease, but the world needed to be prepared.
"Though infectious, this new virus has so far not been as severe as had been feared and death rates have been low," the UN secretary general told a press conference at UN headquarters in New York.
Australia was considering raising its swine flu alert level Friday, with health officials holding emergency talks.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Australia had prepared well for the outbreak but he warned the population's mobility could cause problems. The country currently has 1,307 confirmed cases including four in intensive care.
EU officials promised measures on Thursday to reduce the impact of swine flu as Spain said 22 schools in the Madrid region had been hit by the virus.
The United States said it was well prepared to tackle the pandemic as it had been taking precautionary measures.
"We acted aggressively to stay ahead of the virus as it spread across the country. Now our challenge is to prepare for a possible return in the fall," Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.
Hong Kong authorities Thursday ordered all primary schools in the city to be closed for two weeks after the first cluster of local swine flu cases was found in the Chinese territory.
In Germany, a school for Japanese youngsters in the western city of Duesseldorf was closed after 27 children tested positive for the virus. And in Australia, four swine flu victims were admitted to intensive care wards.
Following the announcement, the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies were mobilising to respond to the pandemic.
Chan said that it was up to individual countries to decide how to proceed given the outbreak was now classified as a pandemic.
"The global level assessment is very different from national level assessment because it has to take into account the vulnerability of the population in a specific country and also the health system resilience," she said.
Although no vaccine against A(H1N1) has yet to be produced, drug companies are looking to come up with one by the end of June or early July and last month sent three "seed viruses" to drug companies for use in making a vaccine.
Chan said the WHO would ask drug-makers to quickly prepare to produce swine flu vaccines once the production of seasonal flu shots ends in the next couple of weeks.
The last flu pandemic came after an outbreak of the H3N2 viral strain from 1968-69, which originated in Hong Kong, and went on to kill up to two million people.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/world/06/12/ ... 1-pandemic
WHO declares A (H1N1) pandemic
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Gasopol111
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Gasopol111
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Re: WHO declares A (H1N1) pandemic
WHO declares first 21st century flu pandemic
The World Health Organization declared an influenza pandemic and advised governments to prepare for a long-term battle against an unstoppable new flu virus.
The United Nations agency raised its pandemic flu alert to phase 6 on a six-point scale, indicating the first influenza pandemic since 1968 is under way.
"With today's announcement, WHO moves from an emergency to a longer-term response. Based on past experience, this pandemic will be with us for some months, if not years, to come," WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said in a letter to staff, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
People aged 30-50, pregnant women or people suffering from chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes or obesity are at highest risk, Chan told a news conference.
Countries from Australia to Chile and the United States are reporting the new swine flu virus is "crowding out" seasonal flu, becoming the predominant influenza strain, she said.
For now the virus was "pretty stable," but Chan warned that it could still change into a more deadly form, perhaps mixing with the H5N1 bird flu virus circulating widely in poultry.
"So it is incumbent on WHO and all members to stay vigilant and alert for the next year or two or even beyond," she said.
There is also a risk the swine flu could mix with its seasonal H1N1 cousin, which has developed resistance to the main antiviral flu drug Tamiflu, made by Roche AG and Gilead Sciences Inc, Dr Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told a separate briefing.
The United States has been operating on pandemic status for weeks, with hundreds of thousands of cases and at least 1,000 hospitalizations, Schuchat said.
Guarding against 'rash' actions
The virus disproportionately makes younger people sick. Some 57% of US cases were among people aged 5 to 24, and 41 percent of those hospitalized were in this younger age group.
H1N1 is active in all 50 states and there are so many cases now that in some areas, patients with specific flu-like symptoms - a fever above 40 degrees C, cough or other respiratory symptoms - are presumed to have the new virus.
WHO reiterated its advice to its 193 member countries not to close borders or impose travel restrictions to halt the movement of people, goods and services, a call echoed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
"We must guard against rash and discriminatory actions such as travel bans or trade restrictions," Ban told a news conference at UN headquarters.
The move to phase 6 reflects the fact that the disease, widely known as swine flu, is spreading geographically, but does not indicate how virulent it is.
Widespread transmission of the virus in Australia, signaling that it is entrenched in another region besides North America, was one of the key triggers for moving to phase 6.
"We are satisfied that this virus is spreading to a number of countries and it is not stoppable," Chan said.
"Moving to pandemic phase 6 level does not imply we will see an increase in the number of deaths or very severe cases. Quite on the contrary. Many people are having mild disease, they recover without medicines in some cases and it is good news," she said.
"Although the pandemic appears to have moderate severity in comparatively well-off countries, it is prudent to anticipate a bleaker picture as the virus spreads to areas with limited resources, poor health care, and a high prevalence of underlying medical problems," she added.
Canadian health officials said they were concerned about reports of more severe symptoms in some aboriginal communities, but said it was too soon to say for sure.
"To make conclusions based on a couple of communities that this is somehow a disease that is worse in a particular ethnic group. It's much too early to make any of those kinds of conclusions or presumptions," said Dr David Butler-Jones, Canada's chief public health officer.
Vaccine development underway
Chan said WHO would start distributing a further donation of 5.65 million courses of Tamiflu from Roche.
WHO recommended drugmakers stay on track to complete production of seasonal influenza vaccine for the Northern Hemisphere's next winter in the next two weeks. Each year, normal flu kills up to 500,000 people and infects millions.
Work on developing an H1N1 vaccine is already under way at leading companies, whose factories will be ready to switch to making a pandemic shot in around two weeks' time, when normal season flu vaccine production is complete.
Seasonal flu affects mainly the elderly and causes severe illness in millions, so a premature switch in vaccine production to cope with the new strain could put many people at risk.
"So our recommendation is they need to finish the seasonal vaccine and then move over," Chan said.
Chan said the Geneva-based agency would work with regulatory authorities to help fast-track approval of new pandemic vaccines that are safe and effective so that they can be made available as soon as possible. In any case, the first doses would only be available in September, she added.
A pandemic could cause enormous disruption to business as workers stay home because they are sick or to look after family members and authorities restrict gatherings of large numbers of people or movement of people or goods.
World markets shrugged off the pandemic, as investors focused on possible global economic recovery.
The strain, which emerged in April in Mexico and the United States, has spread widely. There have been 28,774 infections confirmed in 74 countries to date, including 144 deaths, according to WHO's latest tally of laboratory-confirmed cases.
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/declares-f ... ic-2781054
The World Health Organization declared an influenza pandemic and advised governments to prepare for a long-term battle against an unstoppable new flu virus.
The United Nations agency raised its pandemic flu alert to phase 6 on a six-point scale, indicating the first influenza pandemic since 1968 is under way.
"With today's announcement, WHO moves from an emergency to a longer-term response. Based on past experience, this pandemic will be with us for some months, if not years, to come," WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said in a letter to staff, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
People aged 30-50, pregnant women or people suffering from chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes or obesity are at highest risk, Chan told a news conference.
Countries from Australia to Chile and the United States are reporting the new swine flu virus is "crowding out" seasonal flu, becoming the predominant influenza strain, she said.
For now the virus was "pretty stable," but Chan warned that it could still change into a more deadly form, perhaps mixing with the H5N1 bird flu virus circulating widely in poultry.
"So it is incumbent on WHO and all members to stay vigilant and alert for the next year or two or even beyond," she said.
There is also a risk the swine flu could mix with its seasonal H1N1 cousin, which has developed resistance to the main antiviral flu drug Tamiflu, made by Roche AG and Gilead Sciences Inc, Dr Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told a separate briefing.
The United States has been operating on pandemic status for weeks, with hundreds of thousands of cases and at least 1,000 hospitalizations, Schuchat said.
Guarding against 'rash' actions
The virus disproportionately makes younger people sick. Some 57% of US cases were among people aged 5 to 24, and 41 percent of those hospitalized were in this younger age group.
H1N1 is active in all 50 states and there are so many cases now that in some areas, patients with specific flu-like symptoms - a fever above 40 degrees C, cough or other respiratory symptoms - are presumed to have the new virus.
WHO reiterated its advice to its 193 member countries not to close borders or impose travel restrictions to halt the movement of people, goods and services, a call echoed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
"We must guard against rash and discriminatory actions such as travel bans or trade restrictions," Ban told a news conference at UN headquarters.
The move to phase 6 reflects the fact that the disease, widely known as swine flu, is spreading geographically, but does not indicate how virulent it is.
Widespread transmission of the virus in Australia, signaling that it is entrenched in another region besides North America, was one of the key triggers for moving to phase 6.
"We are satisfied that this virus is spreading to a number of countries and it is not stoppable," Chan said.
"Moving to pandemic phase 6 level does not imply we will see an increase in the number of deaths or very severe cases. Quite on the contrary. Many people are having mild disease, they recover without medicines in some cases and it is good news," she said.
"Although the pandemic appears to have moderate severity in comparatively well-off countries, it is prudent to anticipate a bleaker picture as the virus spreads to areas with limited resources, poor health care, and a high prevalence of underlying medical problems," she added.
Canadian health officials said they were concerned about reports of more severe symptoms in some aboriginal communities, but said it was too soon to say for sure.
"To make conclusions based on a couple of communities that this is somehow a disease that is worse in a particular ethnic group. It's much too early to make any of those kinds of conclusions or presumptions," said Dr David Butler-Jones, Canada's chief public health officer.
Vaccine development underway
Chan said WHO would start distributing a further donation of 5.65 million courses of Tamiflu from Roche.
WHO recommended drugmakers stay on track to complete production of seasonal influenza vaccine for the Northern Hemisphere's next winter in the next two weeks. Each year, normal flu kills up to 500,000 people and infects millions.
Work on developing an H1N1 vaccine is already under way at leading companies, whose factories will be ready to switch to making a pandemic shot in around two weeks' time, when normal season flu vaccine production is complete.
Seasonal flu affects mainly the elderly and causes severe illness in millions, so a premature switch in vaccine production to cope with the new strain could put many people at risk.
"So our recommendation is they need to finish the seasonal vaccine and then move over," Chan said.
Chan said the Geneva-based agency would work with regulatory authorities to help fast-track approval of new pandemic vaccines that are safe and effective so that they can be made available as soon as possible. In any case, the first doses would only be available in September, she added.
A pandemic could cause enormous disruption to business as workers stay home because they are sick or to look after family members and authorities restrict gatherings of large numbers of people or movement of people or goods.
World markets shrugged off the pandemic, as investors focused on possible global economic recovery.
The strain, which emerged in April in Mexico and the United States, has spread widely. There have been 28,774 infections confirmed in 74 countries to date, including 144 deaths, according to WHO's latest tally of laboratory-confirmed cases.
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/declares-f ... ic-2781054
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lumburg
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Re: WHO declares A (H1N1) pandemic
I didnt think it was that big
See ya downrange Motherfuckers
Deploying AGAIN to a theatre near you
Deploying AGAIN to a theatre near you