H1N1 flu infections climb to nearly 22,000

- Jun 05, 2009
The World Health Organization's (WHO) latest update on Friday (June 5) officially reported 21,940 cases of influenza A (H1N1) virus, commonly known as swine flu, including 125 deaths since the outbreak began in April. Three more countries were added to the WHO's list of affected countries on Friday - Barbados, Luxembourg and Saudi Arabia, which brought the total number of affected countries to 69. The US continues to report the most H1N1 flu infections with 11,054 cases, including 17 deaths, while Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak, confirms a significantly lower number of cases with 5,563 and a higher number of casualties with 103, according to the WHO's figures. Friday's updated numbers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are higher, as they factor in both confirmed and probable cases. The US agency reported a total of 13,217 confirmed cases in all 50 states, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and 27 deaths. Ten more deaths - Connecticut (1), Illinois (2), Michigan (1), New York (4), Utah (1), Virginia (1) - have been reported since Wednesday's (June 3) CDC update and Wisconsin continues to be the hardest-hit state with 2,217 cases. An emergency meeting was held on Friday by WHO experts to discuss whether a full-scale H1N1 flu pandemic would be declared. The UN agency kept its pandemic flu alert at Phase 5, but agreed that in the future, alert changes would reflect the severity of an outbreak, in addition to its geographical spread, Reuters reported. Discussion to alter the WHO's pandemic alert scale arose due to criticism that it may have caused unnecessary panic about the new flu strain, which seems to cause mainly mild illness. During the meeting, WHO experts again advised countries not to close borders or restrict international travel as the strategy was deemed ineffective. Vaccine development was also discussed, and the WHO said the production of the seasonal flu vaccine should continue for now as work progresses to develop a vaccine against the H1N1 flu. Meanwhile, Canadian health officials on Friday developed a network of researchers to expedite research on influenza, Reuters reported. According to Canadian Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, the network, consisting of 80 scientists from 30 research and public health institutions, will receive US$9.7 million (10.8 million Canadian dollars) over the course of the next three years. Although the outbreak has infected 1,795 Canadians, including three casualties, the impact has been relatively mild. However, Aglukkaq was quoted as saying, "we must be vigilant and we must be ready to respond, and of course research will play a major role in this." Swine influenza has previously been identified as a contagious respiratory disease that commonly infects pigs and is caused by a type-A influenza. The current strain is a new variation of an H1N1 virus, which is known as a mix of human and animal versions. The dangers of this strain exist when the flu spreads from human to human instead of from animals to humans, as the virus can continue to mutate, making it difficult to treat and combat because people do not have natural immunity.