Houston: The death toll due to swine flu around the world has swelled to around 800, World Health Organisation has reported.
The A(H1N1) virus that first caused illness in Mexico and
the US in March and April is continuing to spread through the
world, the UN body said yesterday.
WHO spokesperson Gregory Hartl warned that the virus is
expected to increase this winter in the Northern Hemisphere
due to cold weather.
Dr Anne Schuchat, director of the Center for Disease
Control and Prevention`s (CDC) National Center for
Immunisation and Respiratory Diseases, agreed to this saying
"We had a 6 to 8 per cent attack rate just during the spring
months... We think that in a longer winter season, attack
rates would be two to three times as high as that."
Around 160 countries and territories have now reported
laboratory-confirmed cases of the virus, but how it could
potentially change over the coming weeks is still unknown, the
WHO spokesperson told reporters in Geneva.
Meanwhile, the US officials say that the swine flu could
end up affecting as many as 40 per cent of Americans, if one
includes workers who stay home to care for people who contract
the illness.
"Our assumptions for a severe pandemic were that up to 40
per cent of the workforce might be affected and not able to
work either because they were ill or they needed to stay home
to care for an ill family member," they said.
Bureau Report
