GENEVA (AFP) – The World Health Organisation Monday cautioned against declaring a full-fledged swine flu pandemic yet, even as cases in Japan and the United States soared and a New York school official died of the virus.
WHO chief Margaret Chan told member states on the first day of the UN health body's annual assembly they may be facing a "calm before the storm," but that the organisation had so far held off on raising the alert.
"We remain in phase five," she said, following speculation the alert would be raised to the maximum six after new cases emerged in Japan. Level five only indicates a pandemic is imminent.
"We need to warn the public whenever necessary but reassure them whenever possible. This is a difficult balancing act," the WHO director general told a special debate on the new A(H1N1) virus.
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"We do not know how long this period will take, if this is the calm before the storm," Chan told the assembly, adding that there was "every reason to be concerned with the interaction with other viruses."
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Besides not raising the alert level, the WHO also advised the pharmaceutical industry against switching its production focus onto the new swine flu virus, recommending that making seasonal flu vaccines was still the priority.
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