Is the H1N1 virus still a threat?

Margaret Chan

Last year, the world was told to prepare for a possible pandemic that had the potential to kill millions of people. While thousands worldwide did die from the H1N1 flu strain, it was nowhere near the numbers that the World Health Organization (WHO) predicted.

Despite this, Margaret Chan, the WHO's director-general has warned that the H1N1 virus threat still exists and as such, vaccines must continue to be made and stored for a possible outbreak. However she added the virus had 'largely run its course'.

"Globally, the levels and patterns of H1N1 transmission now being seen differ significantly from what was observed during the pandemic.

The virus, which turned out to be far less deadly than originally feared, was now "moving into the post-pandemic period", said to Dr Chan, but this did not mean it had gone away.

"The one thing we need to guard against is a sense of complacency," she added. Chan also stated that although western countries such as the US, Canada and several European states had weathered a second wave of the virus with no problem, there were reports of intensifying outbreaks in India and Egypt.

To date, over 200 countries have experienced H1N1 outbreaks with deaths numbering 12,000. However, despite the intensive manufacturing of a vaccine, millions of people have recovered without any medical treatment.

The WHO has announced deliveries of 190 million doses of H1N1 vaccine to be sent to 90 developing countries in a bid to stop a spread of the epidemic.

No global pandemic?

The H1N1 virus came to public notice in April 2009, and despite the worldwide spread of the virus, the number of cases rapidly decreased. Despite being labelled as a pandemic by the WHO, it is generally thought that the virus was not as serious as originally predicted, however lives still continue to be lost.

Some countries such as Spain continue to produce and stock the vaccine in case the virus flares up again, but for now it is a case of watching and waiting to see what the virus does next.

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