With the World Health Organisation now putting the global toll at more than 700 - a leap of 40 per cent since the start of the month - scientists fear the onset of winter could see Influenza A (H1N1) mutate to a more deadly form, in a reprise of the Spanish and Asian influenza pandemics of 1918 and 1958.
And while the number of fatalities is growing even in countries still in the summer season, the experience of South America suggests the scientists' fears could be right.
Argentina now accounts for 165 of deaths worldwide and is the world's second worst-affected country, behind the United States with 263 confirmed deaths.
Chile on Tuesday announced that it had 68, up by 28 in four days.
And with every country in the region blaming the onset of the Southern Hemisphere winter, Uruguay has declared 20 deaths, Brazil 15, Peru 12, Paraguay 10, Bolivia five and Venezuela two.
Mexico, where the outbreak started, remains in third place with 128 deaths.
As with other regions, the H1N1 flu fallout is growing too, with concerns about the virus forcing the cancellation of a 227-year-old Roman Catholic pilgrimage in Costa Rica.
Elsewhere, Thailand's death toll has reached 44 - almost doubling in a week - to overtake Australia's as the biggest in the Asia-Pacific region.
Fans arriving for a football match involving English side Liverpool against Thailand in Bangkok yesterday had to pass through thermal scanners at Rajamangala Stadium as a precaution against the flu. -- AFP
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