WHO: Vaccines for H1N1 Influenza Are Safe

VOA News 18/01/2010

The World Health Organization says vaccines for H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic are safe and people should have no fear of debilitating side affects. A Senior WHO Official warns people are putting their health and lives at risk by not getting vaccinated. The Swine Flu pandemic tops the agenda of this week's Executive Board meeting.

The World Health Organization says pandemic viruses have replaced seasonal flu in almost all countries. And, it says these viruses are going to stick around for a long time.

As a consequence, WHO says vaccines against the disease are the best means of protection. Next month, scientists will be meeting at WHO headquarters to discuss the composition of future vaccines.

Keiji Fukuda is Special Adviser to the WHO Director-General on Pandemic Influenza. He says one of the big questions the scientists will face is to determine what patterns are likely to be seen in the fall and the winter.

"Right now, pandemic infections are occurring in many countries, but the overall pattern is decreasing," said Keiji Fukuda. "We see that the highest activity is in northern Africa, Central and Eastern Europe and southern Asia. And, we can also say that the second wave of infections peaked very early in some parts of the northern Hemisphere."

Fukuda says there is a lot of discussion and speculation as to whether another wave of infections will occur in the late winter and spring months. He says it is unclear whether the H1N1 pandemic virus will replace seasonal viruses to some extent.

H1N1 Reality Far Lower than Expectations, says British Medical Journal

VOA News 17/01/2010

The British Medical Journal is taking a hard look at H1N1, examining why the flu strain did not become the huge epidemic that many feared it would.

The World Health Organization says the latest estimate indicates 13,000 people around the world have died from H1N1. It says it expects that number to be much larger when the final estimate is released in the coming months. In comparison, the seasonal flu kills about 36,000 people each year in the United States.

BMJ deputy editor Tony Delamothe says, “I think you’re right to say everybody was concerned about the potential for H1N1, but from the vantage point of early January 2010, at least in the U.K., it doesn’t look as if it’s any worse than an average bout of flu,’ he says.

He says after a spike of H1N1 cases in mid-2009 in Britain, reports of flu cases remained steady and then began to decline.

Over 360 deaths from the disease have been reported, but Delamothe says, “Really, flu kills people every year. And it’s really hard to know whether that’s more than an average year for flu mortality.”

Did early warnings and preparedness help?

Mongolia Receives First Batch of Swine Flu Vaccines

VOA News 07/01/2010

The World Health Organization says Mongolia became the first developing country to receive doses of donated H1N1 swine flu vaccines. A WHO spokeswoman tells VOA more vaccines will be distributed for use in 95 poor countries during the next few months. The World Health Organization has divided the 95 developing countries into three groups. Mongolia is the first country in the first group of countries to receive the H1N1 vaccine donations.

WHO spokeswoman Nyka Alexander tells VOA a country must have measures in place for distributing the vaccine before it can become eligible to receive it.

"There is a whole stack of logistical issues behind that. But, we are very happy that the campaign has begun, the first arrivals have begun. The deployment has been going on for many, many months now. But, the actual first arrival of vaccines happened today," she said.

Alexander says the vaccines will be shipped to all of the first group of 35 countries within the next month. She says the World Health Organization is not releasing the names of the countries yet because the logistics of distribution keep changing.

"So, for now, we are just saying that the three countries that seem closest to receiving-well Mongolia, which did receive," she said. "Azerbaijan, which should receive within a few days and Afghanistan as well, looks pretty likely to be next on our list, next of the countries able to receive. So, there is that. The other countries on this first cluster of 35, there are several in our Western Pacific region and there are also Pacific island countries."

She says health care workers will be the first to be immunized, followed by people most at risk, such as pregnant women and very young children.

WHO: H1N1 Influenza Pandemic to Last Another Year

VOA News 29/12/2009

The director-general of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, predicts the H1N1 swine flu virus is likely to continue circulating around the world for another year. She warns nations must remain vigilant because the H1N1 virus could mutate into a more dangerous form.

Chan says impressive progress has been made in areas such as treatment for HIV/AIDS, in the large number of lives saved among children under five and in significant cuts in deaths from malaria and measles.

But, she warns this progress is fragile. She says the momentum for health development could come to a grinding halt because of problems stemming from the food and financial crises, the changing climate and the H1N1 influenza pandemic.

"Just imagine, a severe pandemic coming at such a fragile time in a world where there are many people suffering from chronic diseases like heart disease, lung disease, including asthma, cancers, with many more people suffering from HIV, obesity and the list goes on," she said.

The World Health Organization reports H1N1 has spread to more than 200 countries, with nearly 12,000 laboratory confirmed deaths. Chan says it is likely this death toll is greatly underestimated. She says it probably will take about two years after the pandemic has ended for the true figure to be established.

WHO: Premature to Call Swine Flu Pandemic Over

VOA News

A senior WHO official says the virus is expected to continue circulating for some time to come and countries should continue to take steps to protect their populations.

The World Health Organization says it is too soon to call the H1N1, Swine Flu pandemic over. A senior WHO official says the virus is expected to continue circulating for some time to come and countries should continue to take steps to protect their populations.

The H1N1 influenza pandemic has been around for about eight months, but in some places the spread of the virus is not as widespread as some had feared. The World Health Organization says this is not long enough to be able to consider the pandemic over.

WHO notes the pandemic is a global event, not a regional one. Since the virus is spreading around the world, it says it is normal for the illness to be more severe in some places than in others.

For example, WHO finds infections are continuing at quite high levels in some parts of Europe, such as France and Switzerland, in parts of Central Asia and in some large countries, such as Russia.