WHO warns H1n1 virus can mutate.A/H1N1 pandemic not over yet, warns WHO chief

1. High temperature, tiredness and lowered immunity

2. Headache, runny nose and sneezing

3. Sore throat

4. Shortness of breath

5. Loss of appetite, vomiting and diarrhoea

6. Aching muscles, limb and joint pain

Source: NHS

Dr Margaret Chan says avian flu is more of a problem than swine flu
The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned the global swine flu pandemic is not yet over and the virus could still mutate.

Dr Margaret Chan said it was important to "guard against complacency" despite signs the disease had peaked in North America and parts of Europe.

She said the virus was still active in countries including India and Egypt.

More than 11,500 people are believed to have died in more than 200 countries and territories because of swine flu.

However Dr Chan said it would take at least two years before a true death toll could be established.

The WHO's director general said the US, Canada and the UK were among those countries where the worst of the swine flu outbreak had appeared to have passed.

Danger

But she added: "It is too premature and too early for us to say we have come to an end of the pandemic influenza worldwide."

She said experts needed to continue monitoring the pandemic for another six to 12 months as it could mutate into a more dangerous strain.

"We will watch this virus with eagle's eyes," she said.

Dr Chan said it was fortunate the pandemic had been milder than expected.

"The fact that the long overdue influenza pandemic is so moderate in its impact is probably the best health news in a decade," she said.

Millions of people are believed to have recovered after contracting the virus and displaying few symptoms.

She said the demand for swine flu vaccinations in some European countries had been lower than expected and WHO was investigating whether superfluous vaccines could be sent to developing countries.

Dr Chan said drug makers and countries promised to donate nearly 190 million vaccine doses to WHO, with the first doses of the donated vaccines to be distributed in Azerbaijan, Mongolia and Afghanistan next month.

However she admitted she had not yet had a vaccine but said she would have it soon.

She said that although countries are now better prepared to cope with a global disease outbreak, people still had to be aware of the dangers of bird flu (H5N1).

She said this was more toxic and deadly than swine flu and that many countries remained ill-prepared for mass outbreaks of this virus.

"The world is not ready for a pandemic to be caused by H5N1," she said.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday that the A/H1N1 pandemic influenza is not over yet and the world needs to continue monitoring the evolution of the disease in 2010.

"It's too premature, too early for us to say we have come to an end of the pandemic influenza worldwide," Dr Margaret Chan told a news conference at the WHO headquarters in Geneva.

It's true that many countries in the northern hemisphere have passed the peak of the pandemic, notably in the United States, Canada and parts of Europe, but on the other hand there are still intensive influenza activities in countries like Egypt and India, Chan said.

The current pandemic caused by the H1N1 flu virus has been described as "moderate", but scientists cannot rule out the possibility that the virus could mutate and become more dangerous given the fact that flu virus are highly unpredictable.

So "it would be prudent and appropriate for the WHO together with our members’ states to continue to monitor the evolution of this pandemic for the next six to 12 months," Chan said.

So far nearly 12,000 people worldwide have been killed by the A/H1N1 influenza since the disease first emerged in April, according to an update released by the WHO last week.

But Chan noted that was a laboratory confirmed number, and it actually underestimates the real number of deaths caused by the pandemic.

"Many countries don't have the capacity for surveillance, for diagnosis and for confirmation. So there would be some deaths in some countries that are not reported," Chan said.

According to the WHO chief, the handling of the A/H1N1 pandemic has shown that the world is much better prepared now than five years ago to deal with such diseases. But there are still many gaps in the health systems in many countries.

She warned that the world is not yet ready for dealing with a pandemic caused by the H5N1 bird flu virus, which is "much more toxic and deadly" than the H1N1 virus.

"I just wish that the world does not have to deal with a pandemic ignited by a much more toxic and deadly virus, the avian flu virus H5N1," Chan said.

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