China says swine flu situation 'grim', France cases explode

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Frankrijk per week 20.000 nieuwe gevallen van AH1N1, zonder rapporten van
dodelijke gevallen. So far, so good.

Groet / Cees

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/world/09/08/09/china-says-swine-flu-situation-grim-france-cases-explode
Agence France-Presse | 09/08/2009 9:45 PM

BEIJING - China said Tuesday the country was facing a "grim" situation in
its efforts to stave off fresh outbreaks of swine flu, as monitors in
France said the number of cases there was much higher than claimed.

The pessimistic news came as the northern hemisphere prepares for the
onset of autumn and winter, which experts believe will result in an
expected second wave of the global A(H1N1) influenza pandemic.

China, the world's most populous country, is scheduled to launch its
nationwide vaccination programme "this week", Health Minister Chen Zhu
told reporters, but he admitted Beijing was facing an uphill battle.

"China will be facing a grim situation in the prevention and control of
the A(H1N1) flu," Chen said, adding that supply of vaccines would "fall
far short of demand if compared to the demand of 1.3 billion people".

China, which last week approved a homegrown one-dose vaccine, said it
would become the first nation to launch a mass programme to inoculate the
population against the A(H1N1) virus, now the world's most prevalent flu
strain.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday that at least 2,837 people
had died from A(H1N1) flu globally. The virus, which originated in the
Americas, has already been detected in nearly every country in the world.

China has so far reported 5,592 cases of A(H1N1) flu but no deaths.

One patient in Shanghai and another in the neighbouring eastern province
of Zhejiang were in serious condition after contracting the virus, Chen
said.

The minister said there had been a sudden surge in the total number of
cases, as well as a quick jump in cluster outbreaks, with the start of the
new academic year bringing students together in close proximity.

China plans to vaccinate 65 million people, or five percent of the total
population of 1.3 billion, before year's end.

Chen said soldiers, police, children aged five to 19, those with chronic
respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, medical workers, quarantine
officials and people working in the railway and aviation sectors would be
given priority.

In France, a flu monitoring agency which looks at cases region-by-region
also said the number of cases was skyrocketing -- far beyond the official
figures released -- with as many as 20,000 new cases nationwide every
week.

"We are convinced that our figures are close to reality, with a margin of
error of 20 percent," GROG director Jean-Marie Cohen told reporters during
a conference in Switzerland on the antiviral drug Tamiflu.

GROG based its figures on a network of 5,000 doctors and pediatricians
encountering acute respiratory infections in patients at the regional
level, with an extrapolation made to come up with a total for the entire
country.

Cohen said he believed the health ministry's figures were calculated "in a
rush".

In Latin America, the head of security for Ecuadoran President Rafael
Correa had died of the virus, officials said Monday. Air Force Lieutenant
Colonel John Merino was first hospitalised on August 10.

Two leaders in the region have so far fallen ill from swine flu:
presidents Oscar Arias of Costa Rica and Alvaro Uribe of Colombia.

**********
Dit bericht is verzonden via de informele D66 discussielijst (D66 at nic.surfnet.nl).
Aanmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SUBSCRIBE D66 uwvoornaam uwachternaam
Afmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SIGNOFF D66
Het on-line archief is te vinden op: http://listserv.surfnet.nl/archives/d66.html
**********