Word: viruses
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday raised the pandemic swine flu alert level from phase 3 to 4, two levels below the declaration of a full pandemic. The elevated alert means there has been sustained human-to-human transmission of the new A/H1N1 swine flu virus and that scientists now believe government efforts should focus on slowing the spread of the virus rather than containing it at its source...
...could create a shortfall in normal flu vaccine, potentially leading to needless deaths should the A/H1N1 swine flu end up petering out on its own. Still, preparations for a swine flu vaccine are being initiated, as any vaccine would take months to produce - a costly delay if the new virus ends up becoming virulent. (Read "CDC Readies Swine Flu Vaccine...
Indeed, so far there is very little reason for anyone outside Mexico to be worried about their health. There are relatively few cases in the U.S. and other infected countries outside Mexico, and none of those cases have been serious. The virus appears to be vulnerable to antiviral drugs like Tamiflu, and thanks to global pandemic preparations since the SARS epidemic of 2003 and last year's flu outbreak in Hong Kong, the U.S. and other developed countries maintain large stockpiles of the drug. "We are seeing a much more clear and cogent response than in the past," said Laurie...
Despite the fact that cases outside Mexico haven't been serious, the situation is far from secure. For one thing, scientists still don't know why the virus appears to have caused more serious disease in Mexico. It could be that the virus has simply been there longer or that patients were not treated quickly enough with antivirals; or it could be that a more serious epidemic is still to come in other parts of the world...
What is puzzling, however, is the WHO's decision to escalate the alert now, when the world has most likely missed its chance to contain the virus. When the WHO's pandemic alert system was first conceived, phase 4 was intended to indicate the moment when a new flu virus had been identified and could spread effectively from person to person (as Asia's H5N1's bird flu virus, which reached phase 3, has never been able to do), but was still limited enough that health officials could launch a global effort to contain it and snuff it out with...