Vaccines purchased for flu pandemic
Mon May 18th, 2009
Swine flu appeared to continue its spread over the weekend - passing 100 cases in the UK and reaching 39 countries.
Globally, the total of confirmed cases was nearing 10,000, reaching 8,480, according to the World Health Organisation.
The majority of these - and all deaths - are in north and central America.
The threat of flu is set to be a key topic at the World Health Assembly, which begins today in Geneva, Switzerland.
In the UK some 14 cases of swine flu were confirmed - just two of them involving travellers from North America.
However the surge in cases may represent laboratories catching up with those referred to them - the number of outstanding cases awaiting confirmation has fallen to 155.
Meanwhile the British government said it planned to buy as many as 90 million doses of vaccine against the swine flu - H1N1.
The deal with vaccine manufacturers will trigger purchases if the WHO raises the alert level for the pandemic.
Health secretary Alan Johnson said the deal would enable half the British population to be vaccinated by December if necessary.
He said: "The localised cases of swine flu found in the UK have so far been mild, and our strategy of containing the spread with anti-virals appears to have been effective in reducing symptoms and preventing further spread of infection.
"Scientists tell us that as yet we don't know enough about this novel strain, or whether it's likely to mutate, but that this virus has the potential to become a pandemic and we can't predict how serious that would be. We have an opportunity to secure vaccine in advance of a pandemic wave."
Tags: Flu & Viruses | World Health | North America | Travel | UK News
Printer friendly page