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EPIDEMICS
Britain facing swine flu upsurge; Argentine govt under fire

WHO guarantees swine flu treatment for the Americas
The World Health Organization on Thursday vowed poor countries in the Americas would receive enough antivirals to combat the swine flu outbreak, amid fresh concern over the pandemic's spread. During a summit in Cancun, Mexico, WHO director-general Margaret Chan said Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Roche had promised to supply 5.6 million Tamiflu treatments, which the WHO would distribute to developing countries. Chan added the WHO would hold talks with donors to buy additional antiviral reserves in order to handle demand in the coming months in anticipation of a surge in cases of A(H1N1), which has killed 332 people worldwide since emerging in Mexico in April. Policy makers and experts from 50 countries are meeting in the Mexican beach resort to discuss their response to this year's swine flu outbreak, as Latin America continues to be hit by new cases. The head of the Pan American Health Organization, Mirta Roses, said a US donation of 425,000 Tamiflu courses would cover immediate needs. "The region is pretty well covered with antivirals, with equipment for diagnosis," Roses said. The Americas have been the hardest hit by the disease, with the United States, Mexico, Canada and Argentina suffering the vast majority of the world's fatalities, according to WHO figures. Argentina has seen a sharp rise in fatalities, with the number of dead rising from 26 to 43 in the last five days according to national figures. But Roses tried to assuage fears that the international community will be unable to deal with the outbreak if it continues to spread. "Our strategic reserves will be re-enforced by the WHO and with the donation that the US department of health has announced we have around one million treatments in our deposit in Panama," Roses said.

US sends swine flu meds to Latin America, Caribbean
The United States will provide 420,000 courses of antiviral medication Tamiflu to fight swine flu in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) said Thursday. "The US recognizes that a novel virus such as H1N1 is a burden borne by all nations, and all of us have a responsibility to help support one another in the face of this challenge," a statement from the DHHS quoted Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as saying at a meeting of health ministers in Mexico, where she announced the US move to help fight the A(H1N1) pandemic. The announcement came as Argentina became the country hardest hit by swine flu, or A(H1N1), after the United States, Mexico and Canada. According to statistics released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 170 people have died of swine flu in the United States and its territories Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. World Health Organization statistics show that 116 people have died of the new strain of H1N1 flu in Mexico, where the virus first surfaced at the end of April, and 25 in Canada. On Wednesday, Argentina's new Health Minister Juan Manzur said at least 43 people had died in the South American country. "Transmission of the virus within the region and throughout the Americas is a significant US health security concern because of the vast amount of travel and commerce in the hemisphere," the US health department said in a statement. The DHHS currently holds some 50 million courses of antiviral medication in its strategic national stockpile.
by Staff Writers
 London (AFP) July 2, 2009
 Britain's health secretary warned Thursday the country could soon face more than 100,000 daily cases of swine flu, while fears linked to the virus soared in Argentina after the death toll nearly doubled.

The warning from British Health Secretary Andy Burnham came as a second case of resistance to the key Tamiflu drug in a swine flu patient emerged in less than a week, with the latest in Japan.

The A(H1N1) virus has also now spread to all 27 countries in the European Union, with Malta reporting its first two cases.

Burnham said 100,000 cases a day could occur in Britain by the end of August if the current rate of infection is maintained. Britain already has Europe's highest number of reported cases.

"Cases are doubling every week, and on this trend we could see over 100,000 cases a day by the end of August, but I stress this is only a projection," Burnham told the House of Commons, the lower parliamentary chamber.

Britain now had nearly 7,500 cases of swine flu, he said, with hundreds of new cases being confirmed every day.

Health officials have said Britain is abandoning a policy of trying to stop the flu spreading and instead focusing on patients most susceptible to it, such as obese people or those suffering from asthma or breathing problems.

All three people who have died in Britain after contracting swine flu had underlying health problems, health officials have said.

The latest numbers from the World Health Organisation, released on Wednesday, showed 77,201 reported swine flu cases worldwide, with 332 deaths.

On Thursday, Japan's health ministry reported resistance to Tamiflu in a patient with swine flu, the second in a week after a previous case in Denmark.

The patient -- a woman in Osaka prefecture -- was recovering after having been given Ralenza, an alternative anti-flu medication, Kyodo news agency reported, citing the Health, Welfare and Labour Ministry.

A spokeswoman for Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Roche, which makes Tamiflu, said the company had been informed of the case and called it "normal," adding that "0.4 percent of adults develop resistance" to Tamiflu.

This case did not indicate Tamiflu has become less effective against swine flu, she added.

Separately, the US health department said it would provide 420,000 courses of Tamiflu to fight swine flu in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Argentina has surpassed Canada as the country with the most swine flu-linked deaths after the United States and Mexico, and the government there has come under fire for its response to the pandemic.

Swine flu fears in Argentina have been aggravated by the government's refusal to declare a state of emergency even as the death toll has nearly increased from 26 to at least 43.

New Health Minister Juan Manzur avoided precise numbers at his first press conference Wednesday, finally settling on "between 43 and 44" as the number of deaths.

The virus spread in Argentina at a time when the government and public were distracted by a campaign for mid-term legislative elections held Sunday.

But fears over flu have increased since the weekend, as public and media attention has shifted from politics to the mounting number of deaths and infections.

On Monday, pharmacies in Argentina ran out of masks, as advice about how to avoid the flu replaced the drama of President Cristina Kirchner's electoral defeat as the top topic of conversation.

In Australia, authorities said Thursday parents should not panic after the death of a three-year-old with swine flu -- its first child death linked to the virus.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon called the death a "tragedy," but emphasised the virus was mild in most cases.

Meanwhile, the UN World Tourism Organisation has revised its 2009 global tourism forecast sharply down because of the worsening economic outlook and uncertainty over swine flu.

The body forecast that international tourism would decrease between four and six percent this year.

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