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Plea not to panic as swine flu is officially declared pandemic
Sophie Goodchild, Health and Social Affairs Correspondent11 Jun 2009
The World Health Organization today declared the first global flu pandemic for 40 years.
WHO chief Margaret Chan told member states she was raising the swine flu alert to the highest level after a steep rise in Australian cases.
The decision followed crisis talks in response to a four-fold increase in cases of the virus in Australia in a week.
Raising the threat level to pandemic confirms transmission between humans has become widespread in two regions of the world. The virus has spread to 74 countries with 750 people diagnosed in Britain, including a pregnant woman from Scotland.
Classifying the virus as a pandemic does not mean it has become more deadly.
But it does send a clear signal to health officials and businesses to continue planning for the possibility of large numbers of people becoming infected. London health chiefs said they were "well prepared to cope" with a pandemic.
NHS London said: "A decision by WHO announcing that swine flu has reached a pandemic status would reflect the spread of the virus across the globe and not its impact on peoples' health.
"As has been shown over the past couple of months, the NHS in London is well prepared to cope, and the symptoms of swine flu in London have been mild and well contained.
"Our advice to residents in the capital remains the same - there is no need to stop normal everyday activities, such as going to work or school, unless you have flu-like symptoms or are being tested for swine flu and have been advised otherwise."
In London, there are 131 cases, with students from schools including Eton worst hit after returning from Mexico.
The Government's emergency planning committee Cobra will take any decision on emergency action, including distribution of anti-viral drug Tamiflu.
Under plans, each part of the capital will have between 10 and 70 points where people can pick up the medication using a registration number.
Worst-case projections are for 94,000 deaths as a result of an outbreak in which 3.25million Londoners become infected.
The virus emerged in Mexico in April and thousands of cases have been confirmed throughout North and South America.
Most sufferers only experience regular flu symptoms and make a full recovery, but the WHO has confirmed 141 deaths from 27,737 cases.
The last global pandemic was declared in 1968 over the Hong Kong flu.
Reader views (1)
So - close off routes to/from Australia and you avoid a pandemic: simple. Oh, and if you can keep Dannii Minogue over there at the same time, that would be a good thing too.
- Marianne, SW France/London, 11/06/2009 10:27
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