WHO: Swine Flu Could Infect 2 Billion

(AP)  The World Health Organization's flu chief says the global H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic is still in its early stages and 2 billion infections over the course of the pandemic is "a reasonable ballpark to be looking at."

Keiji Fukuda, WHO's Assistant Director-General for Health Security and Environment, told The Associated Press on Friday that previous pandemics show even a few million cases could be "relatively early in the pandemic" and that given the size of the world's population, the new H1N1 virus is likely to spread for some time.

Fukuda says reports from Britain of a sharp spike in cases is consistent with WHO's expectations even though the Geneva-based agency has only received confirmed reports of some 130,000 infections worldwide.

The global health agency stopped asking governments to report new cases last week, saying the effort was too great now that the disease has become so widespread in some countries.

Health authorities in Britain say there were over 100,000 infections in England alone last week, while U.S. authorities estimate the United States has over 1 million swine flu cases. Those figures dwarf WHO's tally of 130,000 confirmed cases worldwide since the start of the outbreak last spring.

"We know that the total number of laboratory confirmed cases is really only a subset of the total number of cases," Fukuda said.

Fukuda, the former chief of epidemiology at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also said there must be no doubt over the safety of swine flu vaccines before they are given to the public.

Health officials and drug makers are looking into ways of speeding up the production of the vaccine before the northern hemisphere enters its flu season in the fall.

"Everybody involved with the vaccine work, from manufacturers up to the regulatory agencies, are looking at what steps can be taken to make the process as streamlined as possible," Fukuda said. "One of the things which cannot be compromised is the safety of vaccines."

[enkay1942]

RED COLOUR & SWINE FLUE
Ruby is the store house of Red Colour in a Solid state. &
Red colour needs the attention of Doctors & Researchist in the Medical field who do not have any clue to causes of Swine Flue
Nature has given Red Colour in many forms
when you get up you see the red Colour of the Rising Sun. It is believed that in a morning walk you absorb Infra Red radiation which is considered ver benificial for heart patients. Infra red radiation is given in muscular pain
In the Garden you find the Red Roses ( reminding of the song "Roses are Red My Love...)
In many parts of the world Water distilled over Rose petals is consumed for freshness.
Rose Petal are also converted into Paste form & consumed for vitality.
Pomegrenate is fruit which has Red seeds & is belived be good lost vitality
Beetroot, Carrot, & Tomatoes also are considere as energisers
Inside the body you have the Red Blood Cells which are the Oxygen carriers & source of all life on the earth It would be interesting if some organization could take up a reasearch on the relationship of available Red Colour in Nature in the form of wearing Ruby, having Morning walk in Sun, consuming Roses Petals, Tomatoes, Pomegrante in some form & then observing their effect on count of R.B.C.& the oxygen intake in the body of the patient. My website is www.vastuengineer.com which primarily deals in topics like Spiritulism, Philosopy, Gems, Astrology etc
Enkay1942
Posted by nkagarwal at 8:34 PM 0 comments
Saturday, October 11

[ajapierce]

I wish CBSNews and other web-site would stop this non-sense. We will get flu shots, we will get taken care of. By making people afraid for no good reason is just going to contribute to the problem.

[proud_churchgoer]

I am not worried for only sinners will be infected with this disease, thats why liberals are so worried.

[slbmartin]

What a joke. Hope you don't get striken down!