WHO Raises Global Swine Flu Tally

The WHO has added 439 new cases of swine flu to its global tally, raising its total of confirmed cases to 12,954. The agency also raised the overall death toll by one to 92.

The WHO said yesterday 46 countries had reported laboratory-confirmed cases of the virus. About half of all cases were in the US.

Authorities in Mexico announced three more swine flu deaths and the US and Canada one more death each. Puerto Rico and the Czech Republic confirmed their first cases of swine flu on Monday but were not yet included in the WHO tally.

Meanwhile, the world’s largest vaccine maker signed a deal with the US to produce a swine flu vaccine.

Sanofi Pasteur said it had won a US$190 million order from the US government to make a swine flu vaccine. The company, which operates flu vaccine production plants in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania, and Val de Reuil, France, said it was also talking to other governments about their vaccine needs.

The company is awaiting a seed virus to be used in vaccine production from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and could begin commercial production next month.

In the US, federal health authorities have confirmed 6,700 swine flu cases, most of them mild. But New York health officials reported another death over the weekend.

Damon Arnold, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health said the latest victim, a Chicago-area resident, had other medical conditions, but authorities released no other information about the person.

In Canada, officials said on Monday that a Toronto man who had swine flu but also suffered a chronic medical condition died on Saturday.

Mexico’s Health Ministry on Monday confirmed a rise in the country’s flu deaths to 83, with more than 4,458 confirmed infections from the virus.

Honduras, Iceland and Kuwait meanwhile reported infections to the WHO for the first time, with Honduras and Iceland posting a case each and Kuwait reporting 18 cases in US soldiers who had since left the country.

In Hong Kong, officials confirmed two new cases of swine flu in young children who arrived on a flight from New York on Sunday, raising the city’s total number of cases to nine.

Also stemming from a New York infection, the Czech Republic registered its first swine flu case involving an adult male from Prague who recently came back from the US city.

Worldwide, fears grew while attempts to contain the disease continued. Japanese shops ran out of face masks amid the outbreak as local authorities and bloggers offered tips on making homemade masks from kitchen paper, coffee filters and even sanitary pads.

The western city of Tatsuno posted handy hints on its official Web site on fashioning a basic anti-flu mask from gauze, tissue and a pair of rubber bands.

Latin America saw most of the new swine flu cases on Monday, as Ecuador’s infected tally rose to 24 over the weekend after officials reported 10 on Friday. Peru raised its confirmed swine flu cases by two to 27.

In China, authorities confirmed two more cases of the swine flu in a 19-year-old man in Zhejiang Province and in a 30-year-old Shanghai man.

In South Korea, the 22nd confirmed case of swine flu followed a sharp weekend rise in reported infections.

Swine Flu Outbreak At Birmingham School Infects 44

An outbreak of swine flu at a Birmingham primary school led to 44 new cases of the virus being confirmed yesterday, the largest number in a single day since the spread began.

Pupils at Welford primary in Handsworth, Birmingham, began feeling ill last week when three cases were initially diagnosed. Yesterday, lab results confirmed a further 44 infections at the school. They included 41 children and three adults. Three more people from the east of England and London were also diagnosed, taking the total in the UK so far to 184, the Department of Health said.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) insisted that high rates of infection were to be expected in school environments where children come into close contact with one another. The school is closed this week for half term and expected to open for all pupils who are feeling well next week.

Before the holidays began, the headteacher informed the HPA there had been an unusually high number of absences owing to illness. At least 100 children had been off sick, according to local reports. As a result of the first confirmed case, all parents and staff were told either to attend the school over the weekend to collect antiviral medication or to receive medical attention at home.

A joint statement issued by the school and the HPA, posted on the school’s website, says that it is undergoing a “deep clean” of the premises during the holiday before it reopens. The headteacher, Chris Smith, was unavailable for comment yesterday.

The HPA said that all confirmed cases are being treated at home with antivirals and are responding well to treatment. HPA officers contacted every parent of children in the school as well as teachers to find out if they have symptoms.

A spokeswoman for the HPA said that they had not yet identified the source of the outbreak. “The initial case is still under investigation. The vast majority of cases have been in people recently returning from an infected country or who have been in close contact with someone who has just returned. This is one of a very small number of cases where there isn’t that history,” she said.

The school recently featured in a BBC2 documentary called The Primary, about building a multicultural school community with children of 17 different nationalities. The school has 420 pupils and 60 in its nursery unit.

Almost 50 countries have now confirmed cases of swine flu and about 13,000 people around the world have been diagnosed with the virus. The death toll from the virus in Mexico stands at 83, while 12 people have died in the United States and two have died in Canada.

Of four cases confirmed on Monday in the UK, one was yesterday revealed to be a two-year-old boy from Oxford.

A DoH spokesman said: “The localised cases of swine flu found in the UK have so far been mild, and we have not seen evidence of widespread community transmission. Our strategy of containing the spread with anti-virals appears to have been effective in reducing symptoms and preventing further spread of infection.

“But we must not be complacent – it is right to prepare for the possibility of a global pandemic. The UK’s arrangements are continuing, to ensure that we are well-placed to deal with this new infection.”