The World Health Organisation has told its member states that there is now a full flu pandemic. The move to Phase 6 means the Mexican flu is spreading in several regions around the world and is unlikely to be stoppable.

An emergency meeting of the WHO was called after a rapid spread of the H1N1 virus in Australia. The country saw a fourfold increase of cases in one week and there are now 1200 people infected with the virus in Australia alone.
 

WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan told reporters:
 

“At this time, the global assessment is that we are seeing a moderate pandemic… We are satisfied that this virus is spreading to a number of countries and it is not stoppable… Moving to pandemic phase six level does not imply we will see an increase in the number of deaths or very severe cases. Quite the contrary. Many people have the disease mildly, they recover without medicines in some cases, and it is good news.”

The new strain of flu emerged in Mexico in April. Since then there have been nearly 28,000 cases reported in 74 countries, including 141 deaths. Some medical experts believe that it may be similar to the 1968 pandemic, which killed an estimated two million people.
 

Mutation
Every year, normal flu kills up to 500,000 people. But there are fears that the new virus could mutate into a much more virulent strain. Dr Ab Osterhaus, Head Virologist at Erasmus University in Rotterdam told Radio Netherlands:
 

“The worst case scenario would be a scenario reminiscent of what we have seen in the Spanish Flu where 40 to 100 million people died… If certain mutations were to occur then the virus could cause much more serious disease"

Vaccine
Drug companies have received the seed virus for making a vaccine for the flu now spreading around the world. But it may be several months before an effective vaccine can be developed. In the meantime, Mexican flu, or Swine flu as it is also known, can be treated with anti-viral drugs such as Tamiflu and Relenza.
 

A pandemic could cause enormous disruption to business as workers stay home because they are sick or have to look after their families. Authorities may also restrict gatherings of large numbers of people or the movement of people and goods.
 

Newsline’s Paddy Maguire interviews Dr Ab Osterhaus, head virologist at Erasmus University in Rotterdam: