Sostiene OMS que dos billones de personas podrían padecer influenza H1N1

La OMS mantuvo este martes que aproximadamente dos billones de personas podrían llegar a infectarse con el virus H1N1 (influenza porcina) según reporta Reuters. “Hacia el final de una pandemia y en cualquier lugar, entre el 15 y el 45% de la población habría sido infectada por el nuevo virus pandémico” dijo el portavoz de la OMS Aphaluck Bhatiasevi añadiendo que el 30% o dos billones de personas en todo el mundo, es el punto medio de ese estimado. “Pero el estimado viene junto a una advertencia de salud importante: nadie sabe cuantas personas hasta el presente se han infectado con la nueva cepa… y el número total nunca será conocido ya que muchos casos son moderados y pueden transcurrir sin ser percibidos” reporta el servicio noticioso.
También el martes la OMS reportó que el virus H1N1 había cobrado 1, 154 vidas en todo el mundo desde que apareciera el virus en abril, incluyendo “338 muertes reportadas en la semana anterior al pasado viernes” reportaron Associated Press/Washington Post. Más de 300 de los nuevos decesos fueron en las Américas para una mortalidad de 1 008 en esa región desde que el virus sugiera primero en México y Estados Unidos y se convirtiera en una epidemia global”.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/159982.php

Agence France-Presse examines a growing number of H1N1 cases in Mexico and deaths from the virus in Latin America. “Three new deaths each, not yet confirmed by the WHO, were registered on Tuesday in Costa Rica, Peru and in San Salvador, two more in Saudi Arabia and others in Bolivia and Spain,” the news service writes, adding, “While no new deaths were reported in Mexico, the health ministry said almost 1,000 fresh cases had been confirmed in just five days, taking the total soaring above 17,000.” The Netherlands and Vietnam on Tuesday became the latest countries to report the first deaths from the H1N1 flu (8/4). Arab Times provides a breakdown of reported H1N1 cases around the world (8/4).
Vaccine Makers Move Ahead To Meet Demand
The drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on Tuesday announced the company had signed nine additional government contracts for 96 million doses of its H1N1 vaccine, the Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal reports (8/4). This agreement is in “addition to the 195 million vaccine doses and products previously ordered by countries including Britain and the U.S., for a total of 291 million doses,” the AP/Washington Post reports. GSK said in a statement that the company expects the first batches of H1N1 vaccines will be available in September, the news service reports (8/4). “But while Glaxo is confident the first vaccine will be ready from next month, it said it was unsure how quickly it can be produced to fulfil[l] orders,” the Press Association writes (8/4).
Adimmune Corp, “[a] Taiwanese biotech company on Tuesday started mass production of a swine flu vaccine before even completing clinical trials, in a bid to get a jump before the start of the winter flu season,” the AFP reports. According to Deputy CEO and President of the company Ignatius Wei, the company expects to be able to produce five million doses of the vaccine before the end of October (8/4).
The drug maker Novartis on Wednesday said the company has shipped doses of the seasonal flu vaccine to the U.S. “ahead of schedule as the current swine flu pandemic is likely to trigger a rise in demand,” Reuters reports (Reid, 8/5).
This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at