& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Season change could spread swine flu in Asia-Pacific: WHO

The uirus to hit the poorest harder

AFP, Manila/ Geneva
The change of seasons in the Asia-Pacific region could make it easier for swine flu to spread. World Health Organisation (WHO) officials warned yesterday.
"The southern hemisphere is about to enter its influenza season," officials at the WHO Western Pacific office said, warning that the "factors that contribute toward the spread of (ordinary seasonal) influenza will also enable the spread of A(H 1N1)."
The greater prevalence of ordinary flu will also make it harder to detect swine flu, said the officials in a briefing at the WHO regional office in the Philippines.
WHO infectious diseases expert Julie Hall warned that vaccines against seasonal influenza did not appear to protect people from A(H INI).
Some Asian countries are better equipped to deal with an outbreak of swine flu, thanks to precautions taken during SARS and bird flu alerts over the last fewyears, Hall said.
"The health systems are a lot stronger than before. The investment that went into preparing for bird flu and SARS are starting to yield the benefits," she said.
However she warned that SARS and bird flu were different from influenza A(H1N1) as bird flu was less likely to infect humans while SARS was spread mainly by people who were already showing symptoms.
In contrast, A(H1N1) can be spread by people who do not appear to be infected, she said.
She also cautioned that the new virus was infecting mainly young people, the largest demographic in some Asian countries.
FROM PAGE 16
"Countries with a more robust health system will be able to cope with the (increased) demand" created by an outbreak, but other countries may not do so well, Hall said. She declined to identify any country.
She warned that any vaccine to the new virus would not be available until August, at the earliest.
The WHO said Friday there have been 11,168 cases of influenza A(H1N1) worldwide with 86confirmed deaths.
Meanwhile, global health chiefs warned on Friday that swine flu could soon hit much harder in the world's poorest countries and its spread in Asia was in danger of accelerating with the change of season.
As scores more new cases were reported in countries ranging from the United States to Japan, the head of the UN's World Health Organisation said A(H1N1) was proving to be "subtle, sneaky virus."
The Philippines became the 42nd country to a report a case of A(H1N1) and Europe took stringent measures to stop the outbreak in its tracks, including the closure of high schools in Rome and quarantining of soldiers in Spain.
The WHO's latest figures put the overall number of inf ections worldwide at 11,168, including 86 deaths, an increase of 134 on the previous day’s tally.
While the vast majority of cases have been in Mexico and the United States, the latest developments heightened the prospects the WHO could declare a fully-fledged pandemic after already having warned that one is imminent
Officials have said they will raise the alert level from five to the maximum six only when it is clear there is sustained community transmission in a second region outside the Americas.
Speaking on the last day of the WHO's annual conference, the organisation's director general Margaret Chan said poor countries which had escaped the worst of the virus could yet find themselves in the eye of the storm.
"Countries especially in the developing world, where populations are most vulnerable, should prepare to see more than the present small number of severe cases," Chan said.
"The strength of a country's health system will make the biggest difference in sickness and survival during an influenzapandemic," sheadded.
Although Asia, home to more than half the world’s population, has yet to experience any deaths from swine flu, the growing number of cases has evoked painful memories of the 2003 SARS virus, which killed more than 800 people.
China - which bore the brunt of SARS - recorded its sixth case of swine flu on Friday.
The number of confirmed A(H1NI) infections in Japan rose to 307, but authorities there eased some of their measures aimed at controlling the spread of swine flu, saying the virus was not as virulent as feared.
"The new influenza has strong similarities to seasonal flu," Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe told reporters.
Officials at the Manila-based WHO Western Pacific office meanwhile warned that as the southern hemisphere was about to enter its influenza season, the "factors that contribute toward the spread of (ordinary seasonal) influenza will also enable the spread of A(H1N1)."
The Australian government invoked sweeping powers which would allow for the closure of schools and public places by upping its pandemic threat level as the number of confirmed swine flu cases there reached 12.
A 10-year-old girl became the country's first case of human-to-human transmission after contracting the disease from a classmate who fell ill upon reluming from a family holiday to the United States.
Two teenagers, one in Melbourne and another in Adelaide, were also diagnosed with the virus without having travelled overseas or come into contact with an identified case, prompting Canberra to escalate its pandemic management plan.
Spain also tried to stop the virus in its tracks by quaranting soldiers at a military school near Madrid after 11 of them fell ill with suspected cases of the virus.
And Italy’s health ministry ordered two high schools in Rome closed after four students were found to have contracted the swine flu virus while on a recent trip to the United States.