Topic: Flu pandemic has begun: WHO raises alert level to highest level

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Flu pandemic has begun: WHO raises alert level to highest level


GENEVA - The World Health Organization told its member countries today it's declaring a flu pandemic - the first in 41 years.


In a statement sent to member countries, the WHO said it decided to raise the pandemic warning level from phase 5 to 6 - its highest alert - after holding an emergency meeting with its experts.


The long-awaited pandemic decision is scientific confirmation that a new swine flu virus has emerged and is quickly circling the globe.


It will trigger drugmakers to speed up production of a swine flu vaccine and prompt governments to devote more money toward efforts to contain the virus.


"At this early stage, the pandemic can be characterized globally as being moderate in severity," WHO said in the statement.


The UN health agency urged countries not to close borders or restrict travel and trade.


The WHO said it is "in close dialogue with influenza vaccine manufacturers."


Infections from the new H1N1 swine flu virus has climbed in North America, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere.


On Wednesday, WHO said 74 countries had reported nearly 27,737 cases of swine flu, including 141 deaths.


The last pandemic - the Hong Kong flu of 1968 - killed about one million people. Ordinary flu kills about 250,000 to 500,000 people each year.


This time, the WHO has stressed that most H1N1 flu cases are mild and require no treatment, but the fear is that a rash of new infections could overwhelm hospitals and health authorities, especially in poorer countries.


Still, about half of the people who have died from swine flu were previously young and healthy - people who are not usually susceptible to flu.


Swine flu is also continuing to spread during the start of summer in the northern hemisphere. Normally, flu viruses disappear with warm weather, but the H1N1 flu virus is proving to be resilient.


source: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090611/health/health_un_swine_flu

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Decoding WHO's pandemic levels


The World Health Organization (WHO) is the leader when it comes to all things related to global health trends. And in a situation like the outbreak of influenza A (H1N1), also known as the human "swine flu," we look to WHO for the protocols to follow.

News of H1N1's spread has sometimes been accompanied by a chart from WHO called the "Pandemic influenza phases." The pandemic levels are graded on a scale of 1 to 6. But what does that mean? Let's decode.

First of all, it's important to know exactly what epidemic and pandemic mean. An epidemic is when there are more cases of infectious disease than normal. A pandemic means that an epidemic has gone global. It measures the scope and spread of a disease or virus - not its severity. A pandemic can spread widely but actually create quite mild symptoms.

Influenza is constantly circulating in the animal kingdom. Birds are especially susceptible, and we know they can travel far and wide as virus vectors (spreaders of the virus). We also know that at least one furry, nocturnal creature can get the flu, too. Phase 1 simply recognizes this fact and lets us know that no animal viruses currently infect humans.

Phase 2 means that some strain of animal influenza has infected a human, making it a potential pandemic threat. When a few people - or a cluster of people - become infected with a strain of influenza, we move to phase 3. Some person-to-person transmission may occur, but it's mostly among those with very close contact, like caregivers. But in this phase, the virus has not developed to the point that is easily passing from person to person.

In phase 4, a virus is easily spread from person to person, causing local outbreaks in communities. Keep in mind, though, that phase 4 is still pre-pandemic and a pandemic is not written in stone. It is at this point that WHO collaborates with affected areas to plan prevention, treatment, or containment of the virus.

A virus begins its shift into the pandemic zone in WHO's phase 5. At this point, human-to-human spread has occurred in at least two countries in one region and a pandemic is imminent. Phase 6 is considered the true "pandemic phase," with community-level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different region than was originally noted in phase 5.

If infection levels drop below peak and the spread has slowed down, we move into the post-peak period. The virus is not eradicated, and recurrent waves of infection may occur - waves of activity can occur over many months. When an infection reaches a level that's normally seen for regular seasonal influenza, we reach a post-pandemic period.