Word: flu
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World Health Organization (WHO) officials declared a pandemic of H1N1 influenza on Thursday, two months after the first cases of the new flu virus were reported in Mexico. It is the first flu pandemic in 41 years, since the 1968 Hong Kong flu...
...pandemic alert to Phase 6, the highest level, was based on specific criteria, most significantly that the disease is now widespread, sustaining transmission in more than two regions around the world - including the Americas (Mexico and the U.S., which have so far borne the greatest brunt of the new flu) and Australia, where cases have risen sharply. The latest data show there are nearly 30,000 cases in 74 countries, with 144 confirmed deaths. (See the top 5 swine flu...
...long-anticipated announcement by the WHO, which followed an emergency meeting of flu experts in Geneva, signals to health officials around the globe that the new influenza strain will continue spreading quickly to more countries. It also adds urgency to their preparedness plans, which include acquiring and distributing antiviral medications and a vaccine, if and when one becomes available. The WHO has dispatched antivirals to 121 nations and asked vaccine makers, who are now completing their production of seasonal flu shots, to begin testing and production of a vaccine for H1N1...
...change in the behavior of the virus," said Dr. Thomas Frieden in his first press conference as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "It only means that it is spreading in more parts of the world." (See pictures of thermal scanners hunting for swine flu...
Frieden noted also that since the first swine flu cases emerged, the U.S. has essentially been operating under the assumption of a pandemic. "In the U.S. and the Americas, we have already had widespread and continued transmission of the virus for some time, so this doesn't change any of our actions," he said. "Our key goal is determining where the virus is spreading and to reduce its impact, particularly on those who are most vulnerable...