Health mattersSwine flu deaths reach to 1,154
Laboratory confirmed cases world-wide have reached 162,380; WHO has estimated that 2 billion people, or one in three of the world’s population, will have been infected by the virus by the end of the pandemic
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that 1,154 swine flu victims have died since the virus emerged in April. WHO said that includes 338 deaths reported in the week leading up to last Friday.
More than 300 of the new deaths were in the Americas, bringing the death toll in that region to 1,008 since the virus first emerged in Mexico and the United States, and developed into the global epidemic.
The Wall Street Journal reports that WHO also said there is no evidence that the new H1N1 virus is mutating into a more dangerous form, but that six patients have been found with a virus resistant to Tamiflu, the most commonly used swine flu drug.
Laboratory confirmed cases of the disease have reached 162,380, but WHO said this number understates the total caseload because hard-hit countries are no longer testing all the people with flu symptoms.
The Americas continued to register the highest total of confirmed cases, put at 98,242 total cases and 1,008 deaths. The WHO also counted 26,661 total cases in the Western Pacific region and 26,089 in Europe, where the vast majority of cases have been diagnosed in the United Kingdom.
The WHO has estimated that 2 billion people, or one in three of the world’s population, will have been infected by the virus by the end of the pandemic.
At least 168 countries and territories have reported confirmed swine flu cases.
