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As death toll rises, WHO decides to stop tracking swine flu
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Quarantined British students (from left) Kamal Bernard, Christopher Panayi, George Edge, and their teacher Ian Tyrrell stand outside the Yanxiang Hotel in Beijing, China, Saturday, July 18, 2009. The students, from the Central Foundation Boys School in Islington were among 52 students and teachers quarantined after four classmates were diagnosed with swine flu. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)
The World Health Organization this week announced that it no longer planned to track cases of swine flu worldwide.
“At this point, further spread of the pandemic, within affected countries and to new countries, is considered inevitable,” the WHO explained in a briefing note.
The announcement came in the middle of a week in which new H1N1 cases shot up at an alarming rate in the United Kingdom and Argentina reported 137 deaths attributed to the virus.
“The increasing number of cases in many countries with sustained community transmission is making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for countries to try and confirm them through laboratory testing,” the WHO noted. “Moreover, the counting of individual cases is now no longer essential in such countries for monitoring either the level or nature of the risk posed by the pandemic virus or to guide implementation of the most appropriate response measures.”
The UK is now reporting there may be as many as 55,000 new swine flu cases a week in the country, an alarming figure considering the United States has confirmed a total of 40,000 cases since the start of the H1N1 outbreak in March.
The surge of cases in the UK has surprised health experts, since it was anticipated the virus would not be so active during the summer months. The world health community has been monitoring the situation in the Southern Hemisphere more closely, since it is now the height of flu season south of the Equator.
Some countries in the Southern Hemisphere have been hard hit, while others remain relatively free of swine flu cases. Argentina this week reported the death toll from swine flu in that nation had reached 137, placing it second in H1N1 deaths, behind only the United States (263).
This week the U.S. State Department issued a travel alert for Argentina, advising Americans of the potential health risks associated with swine flu.
“Throughout the country, authorities advise against attending events involving large gatherings of people,” the State Department noted.
Earlier, Brazil advised its citizens against traveling to Argentina, and airlines and travel agents report many cancellations of bookings.
Argentina’s neighbor to the west, Chile, also has been hard hit. Earlier this week, the number of confirmed swine flu cases in Chile rose to 9,549, including 25 deaths.
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