WHO Pandemic Update # 75

 

 

# 4049

 

The numbers don’t reflect reality, but the trends and percentages are probably useful in these reports from the WHO. 

 

The maps, as of this posting, are not updated from last week but presumably will be soon.

 

 

 

Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 - update 75

Weekly update

20 November 2009 -- As of 15 November 2009, worldwide more than 206 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including over 6750 deaths.

 

As many countries have stopped counting individual cases, particularly of milder illness, the case count is likely to be significantly lower than the actual number of cases that have occurred. WHO is actively monitoring the progress of the pandemic through frequent consultations with the WHO Regional Offices and member states and through monitoring of multiple sources of data.

Situation update:

The situation remains similar since the last update. In temperate regions* of the northern hemisphere, the early arriving winter influenza season continues to intensify across parts of North America and much of Europe. However, there are early signs of a peak in disease activity in some areas of the northern hemisphere.

 

In the United States, influenza transmission remains active and geographically widespread, although disease activity appears to have recently peaked in most areas except in the northeastern United States. In Canada, influenza transmission continues to intensify without a clear peak in activity; the ILI consultation rate, which has been highest among children aged 5-19, continues to significantly exceed mean rates observed over the past 12 influenza seasons.

 

In Europe, widespread and increasing transmission of pandemic influenza virus was observed across much of the continent but the most intense circulation of virus occurred in northern, eastern, and southeastern Europe. Transmission appears to have peaked in few countries of Western Europe including Iceland, Ireland, the UK (Northern Ireland), and Belgium after a period of sustained intense transmission. Further east, a number of countries reported sharp increases in the rates of ILI** (Serbia, Moldova, Norway, Lithuania, Georgia) or ARI (Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine). A moderate or greater impact on the healthcare system was reported in parts of northern and southeastern Europe. Greater than 20% of all sentinel respiratory specimens tested positive for influenza in at least 20 countries, with ≥ 50% of samples testing positive for influenza in Spain, Portugal, Estonia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Iceland, and Ireland. Over 99% of subtyped influenza A viruses in the Europe were pandemic H1N1 2009.

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Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 - update 75

Weekly update (Virological surveillance data)

20 November 2009 -- The Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN) continues monitoring the global circulation of influenza viruses, including pandemic, seasonal and other influenza viruses infecting, or with the potential to infect, humans including seasonal influenza.

Since the beginning of the pandemic in 19 April 2009 to 7 November, a total of 81 countries reported to FluNet. The total number of specimens reportedly positive for influenza viruses by NIC laboratories was 272,326. Of these, 187,290 (68.8%) were pandemic H1N1, 7771 (2.9%) were seasonal A (H1), 23,019 (8.5%) were A (H3), 48,653 (17.9%) were A (not subtyped) and 5593 (2.1%) were influenza B.

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