Swine flu scareWorld's swine flu cases top 6,000
There are now 33 countries reporting an estimated total of 6,080 confirmed swine flu cases, including 3,009 in 45 U.S. states, 2,446 in Mexico, and 358 in Canada; the death total is relatively low — 65, of which 60 were in Mexico, three in the United States, one in Canada, and one in Costa Rica
The response to the global swine flu outbreak appears has not been uniform so far. Not long after Switzerland lifted its advisory against travel to Mexico and the United States, the Japanese national women’s soccer team canceled a tour to North America, where most swine flu cases have been reported. In China, hundreds of people have been quarantined inside hotels, hospitals, and homes after they came in contact with several infected plane or train travelers from Canada and the United States. The U.S. Embassy said Americans are among those quarantined.
RedOrbit reports that there are now 33 countries reporting an estimated total of 6,080 confirmed swine flu cases, including 3,009 in 45 U.S. states, 2,446 in Mexico, and 358 in Canada. The death total is relatively low — 65, of which 60 were in Mexico, three in the United States, one in Canada, and one in Costa Rica.
Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said Wednesday that Mexico has tested about 9,000 sick people, working through a backlog of samples taken before and after the virus was identified as swine flu — and found that Mexico’s dead represents 2.5 percent of confirmed cases, suggesting the virus is not as deadly as initially feared. Pneumonia, often brought on by regular seasonal flu, may be much more deadly, Cordova said — killing 9,500 people in Mexico last year. The last death from swine flu was on 7 May, he said.
There is a danger the virus will mutate into something more dangerous — perhaps by combining with the more deadly but less easily spread bird flu virus circulating in Asia and Africa, according to experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Another concern is that it will combine with the northern winter’s seasonal H1N1 virus. While not unusually virulent, it was resistant to Tamiflu, and health officials worry it could make the new swine flu resistant to Tamiflu as well. With swine flu still spreading around the globe, the World Health Organization (WHO) is warning countries to limit the use of antiviral drugs to ensure adequate supplies.
European countries have been using antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu and Relenza much more aggressively than the United States and Mexico, administering them whenever possible in an attempt to contain the virus before it spreads more widely.
Officials from EU and Latin American nations, including Mexico, were meeting in Prague on Wednesday to discuss the threat. A WHO medical expert, Dr. Nikki Shindo, said the UN agency thinks antivirals should be targeted mainly at people already suffering from other diseases or complications — such as pregnancy — that can lower a body’s defenses against flu.
For all these reasons, risks from the virus are greater than the unknown risks to the fetus from Tamiflu and Relenza, said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the CDC.
“We really want to get the word out about the likely benefits of prompt antiviral treatment” for pregnant women, she said.
RedOrbit reports that Swiss pharmaceuticals company Roche Holding AG announced it was donating enough Tamiflu for 5.65 million more people to WHO. A further 650,000 packets containing smaller doses of the drug will be used to create a new stockpile for children. Mexican authorities had enough Tamiflu for 1 million people at the start of the outbreak and have received more, building reserves of 1.5 million courses.
