The World Health Organisation said Tuesday it would ask countries with large caseloads of swine flu to move away from laboratory testing of individual cases towards collecting more macro-trends of the disease.
"In the next few days, the WHO will be issuing updated surveillance recommendations to countries," said Keiji Fukuda, interim assistant director-general of the WHO.
Swine Flu
Swine flu, a type of influenza caused by a new strain of the H1N1 Type A influenza virus has originated from the pigs. Winter always brings along the chills and the flu, make sure you''re safe this season.
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With some 137 countries and territories having reported over 98,000 cases including over 440 deaths, Fukuda said "we are now at a place in which changing the surveillance approach makes a lot of sense for many countries".
In countries where many cases have been reported, it is now necessary to move towards looking for "larger national indicators of the disease" including following influenza-like illnesses or pneumonia cases.
![Flu Quarantine On Nationality Is A Case Of Discrimination: UN Envoy]( "Flu Quarantine On Nationality Is A Case Of Discrimination: UN Envoy")
Quarantining people for suspected swine flu on the basis of their nationality is a clear-cut case of discrimination, a spokesman for the United Nations human rights commissioner said Friday.
"Because the number of cases have increased in so many countries it is very hard to keep up and so we need to move towards these kinds of indicators to keep following on with the trend of the pandemic," said Fukuda, noting that a shift would also ease pressure on laboratories.
In countries where cases have yet to be reported, Fukuda said the WHO would still recommend that individual suspect cases be tested.
He added that all countries would also be asked to test cases that appear to be unusual, in order for changes in epidemiology of the virus, which has been renamed pandemic (H1N1) 2009 by the WHO, to be recorded.
Source: AFP
LIN
Flu Quarantine On Nationality Is A Case Of Discrimination: UN Envoy
Quarantining people for suspected swine flu on the basis of their nationality is a clear-cut case of discrimination, a spokesman for the United Nations human rights commissioner said Friday.
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"Because the number of cases have increased in so many countries it is very hard to keep up and so we need to move towards these kinds of indicators to keep following on with the trend of the pandemic," said Fukuda, noting that a shift would also ease pressure on laboratories.
In countries where cases have yet to be reported, Fukuda said the WHO would still recommend that individual suspect cases be tested.
He added that all countries would also be asked to test cases that appear to be unusual, in order for changes in epidemiology of the virus, which has been renamed pandemic (H1N1) 2009 by the WHO, to be recorded.
Source: AFP
LIN
Global Swine Flu Infections Cross 90,000 Mark
Swine flu has infected 94,512 people worldwide and been blamed for 429 deaths since it was first detected in April, the World Health Organisation said Monday.
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WHO Reports Huge Leap in Swine Flu CasesThe World Health Organisation on Monday reported a huge leap in the swine flu pandemic toll to more than 52,000 people infected and 231 dead. | Advertisement
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