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China, Britain, Japan encourage WHO to modify A(H1N1) Virus assessment
2009-05-18 18:32:45 (GMT) (Caymanmama.com - Health News World News News)
Boston, Massachusetts (CaymanMama.com) — Some of the world’s largest nations including China and Britain have begun to urge the World Health Organization (WHO) to remain wary about declaring the swine flu pandemic as such, for fear that a premature declaration would ignite mass panic and confusion.
WHO agreed to the request.
Upon the launch of the WHO’s annual meeting, Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said she thoughtfully listened to the concerns of member states and would abide by their instructions.
The new swine flu virus (clinically referred to as A(H1N1) ) continues to spread quickly over the world’s nations, but has not been yet touted as a full on pandemic, Chan said, maintaining the alert level at the current phase 5 out of a possible 6, indicating a global outbreak is likely.
“This virus may have given us a grace period, but we do not know how long this grace period will last,” Chan said. “No one can say whether this is just the calm before the storm.”
Upon a declaration of phase 6, the world is officially under a swine flu pandemic — which means there is an epidemic in at least two world regions.
According to the Associated Press, “Health experts from dozens of countries urged WHO to change its standards for declaring a pandemic, saying it should take into account whether the virus was causing severe or mild illness, not just how quickly it was spreading.”
“We need to give you and your team more flexibility as to whether we move to phase 6,” said British Health Secretary Alan Johnson.
Chan reitterated that the virus could cause great harm to humans, in spite of the fact that only 76 out of 8,829 cases have proven fatal.
CaymanMama.com - Press Release Distribution Service
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