International

WHO Urges Guard against H1N1

Urging the world to retain its guard against the dreaded H1N1 influenza, WHO chief Margaret Chan, on a visit to Tanzania, has warned that the pandemic could gain strength as the northern hemisphere heads into winter.

Chan noted that in most cases people infected by the virus showed mild symptoms, but its affect was harsher on certain groups such as pregnant women and people with underlying medical conditions.

“Looking ahead in the weeks and months ahead, especially for countries in the northern hemisphere, when they will be going into the winter, we need to maintain our vigilance and see how the disease will evolve,” Chan said while speaking to the media on Sunday.

WHO declared H1N1 a full pandemic in June.

Its spread has now been reported from nearly 180 countries around the world.

In its update last week, the WHO said laboratory-confirmed deaths from the flu strain totalled at least 1,462 and pegged the number of confirmed infections at over 177,000.

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