Friday, October 2, 2009

WHO H1N1 Situation Update 68, October 2, 2009

The latest WHO situation update on pandemic H1N1 was released today. According to the report, there have been more than 340,000 laboratory confirmed cases worldwide of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009 and over 4100 deaths reported to WHO as of September 27, 2009. These numbers, however, are very likely to be an underestimation of the toll of the pandemic, as many countries have stopped counting individual cases, particularly of milder illness.

Systematic surveillance conducted by the Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN), supported by WHO Collaborating Centres and other laboratories, continues to detect sporadic incidents of H1N1 pandemic viruses that show resistance to the antiviral oseltamivir. To date, 28 resistant pandemic H1N1 influenza viruses have been detected and characterized worldwide. All of these viruses show the same H275Y mutation that confers resistance to the antiviral oseltamivir, but not to the antiviral zanamivir. No new resistant pandemic H1N1 influenza viruses have been officially reported to WHO during the past week.


The report also includes:

  • Qualitative indicators on the global geographic spread of influenza, trends in acute respiratory diseases, the intensity of respiratory disease activity, and the impact of the pandemic on health-care services.
  • Timeline maps, as well as maps illustrating affected countries and number of deaths.
  • Updated interim WHO guidance on global surveillance.

For the latest detailed information on trends in the spread and distribution of the virus, view the entire report at http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_10_02/en/index.html

No comments: