Swine flu spreads four times faster than other viruses and 40 percent of the fatalities are young adults in good health, the world’s top health official warned in an interview appearing on Saturday.
“This virus travels at an unbelievable, almost unheard of speed,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍) told France’s Le Monde daily in an interview.
“In six weeks it travels the same distance that other viruses take six months to cover,” Chan said.
“Sixty percent of the deaths cover those who have underlying health problems,” she said.
“This means that 40 percent of the fatalities concern young adults — in good health — who die of a viral fever in five to seven days,” Chan said.
“This is the most worrying fact,” she said, adding that “up to 30 percent of people in densely populated countries risked getting infected.”
Chan’s warning came a day after the WHO said the virus had become the most prevalent flu strain.
“Evidence from multiple outbreak sites demonstrates that the A(H1N1) pandemic virus has rapidly established itself and is now the dominant influenza strain in most parts of the world,” the UN agency said in a statement.
“The pandemic will persist in the coming months as the virus continues to move through susceptible populations,” it said.
Chan underlined that emergency and healthcare services in several countries had come under strain and stressed that resources allocated for cancer patients and those suffering from heart disease should not be diverted.
“One must not rob Peter to pay Paul,” she said. “All governments must prepare for the worst.”
She said the most important thing in the battle against the virus was “political leadership.”
More than 2,180 people around the world have died from the virus since it emerged in April, the latest WHO figures show.
Chan also said that it could be months before sufficient vaccine is available to combat the pandemic.
She put world production capacity at 900 million doses a year, for a global population of 6.8 billion people.
Although this was unprecedented and authorities were speeding up procedures for getting vaccines to the market, there should be no question of any compromises on their safety and effectiveness, Chan said.
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