A ballpark estimate of the repercussions of a potential flu pandemic showed that nearly 62 million people worldwide, most of them from the underprivileged nations, could pay with their life.
The figures seem to toe the line of the infamous 1918 Spanish flu, which wiped out nearly 20 million people in a single sweep. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Queensland studied the data gathered from 27 countries to understand the fallout of the 1918 flu. The figures were related with today’s population to estimate the toll of a potential flu pandemic.A team led by Professor Christopher Murray, of Harvard, reevaluated past data and discovered that the 1918 pandemic had struck an uneven blow on the poor. God Forbid, but if the pandemic strikes, more than 95% of the deaths will be from the developing countries.
Professor Murray said, “This is particularly alarming when you consider that all the policy protection is aimed at the high-income world. Few strategies are being thought through that are primarily targeting poor countries.”
Source-Medindia
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