EMILIO DE BENITO - Madrid - 11/08/2010
Vote Result No interésPoco interesanteDe interésMuy interesanteImprescindible 7 votes Comments Comments - 15 Print Send
The pandemic is over, but not surveillance. Nearly 16 months after Mexico was detected in the emergence of a new type of flu virus, which came to be known to simplify flu, the Health Committee of the International World Health Organization (WHO) warning ended maximum H1N1, which has killed at least 18,449 people in 214 countries.
* 16 months of warning
WHO
(World Health Organization)
DEPTH
Headquarters:
GENEVA (Switzerland)
Directors:
Margaret Chan (Director General)
Link full coverage
The pandemic threat
Influenza A
DEPTH
The pandemic threat
Link full coverage
The news on other sites
* Websites in Spanish
* In other languages
Since there are only outbreaks in New Zealand and India
The global count of victims stopped on reaching the 18,500 dead
The virus, occurring in less than expected, it has seriously damaged the image of the body, much criticized by the alarm set and the possible influence of the pharmaceutical industry. The WHO chief Margaret Chan, it admitted yesterday in a teleconference with little criticism, the desirability of changing levels of alertness and hone their communication policies.
The transition from stage 6 to a postpandémica situation was inevitable, after the virus has almost disappeared in the detection systems of the countries. In June 2009, when he declared the pandemic - "moderate", and insisted yesterday, "Chan recalled, was almost the only circulating. Now there are hardly any outbreaks in New Zealand and India, said the head of the WHO. In the other countries (especially in the south, where it is now winter) are pathogens of two other types (B and AH3N2) the most active. But the director of the WHO stressed that the statement does not close this episode. "The H1N1 continue circulating for several years," he said. And not just the virus.
There have already been several institutions (European Parliament, the French Senate) who have harshly criticized the WHO for its handling of the alert, believing that they did not act with clarity and that experts advise to have been influenced by pharmaceutical to exaggerate the danger. The organization insists that it is not, but it is clear that the battle for public opinion, but not both among national authorities, has lost. So the director of the WHO took the opportunity to insist on defending the agency's performance during the crisis was correct. "Pandemics are unpredictable, you have to plan thinking the worst and hoping for the best," he said.
Current vaccines, Spain bought nine million and put three million, still good, he said, although he had to admit that preparing for the coming winter, and are, for example, to be acquired by Spain, and include H1N1 along with two other viruses, so that countries that purchase will not be needed.
Chan, aware that the WHO set an alarm certainly not confirmed by facts, admitted he had learned two lessons. First, they have to work more on communication, the second, you have to change the scale pandemic, designed for the H5N1 (the avian flu virus that spreads evil but between people and only been 503 cases since 2003, has a mortality of 60%), and the need to create a more flexible system would not only consider the spread of the virus, but also its severity.
The head of epidemiology at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Antoni Trilla, believes that the WHO had "a difficult position to declare an end to the pandemic." "If it had been limited to the northern hemisphere or Europe and, especially, Spain, the announcement could have been done in January because virtually disappeared since the H1N1," said Trillas. "But the decision is global and the delay is reasonable, because we had to wait to see what happened to the south and winter in the tropics."
The secretary general of Health, José Martínez Olmos, believes that the announcement could have been done before. "We expected a few weeks ago." The important thing, he said, is that the declaration does not change the actions that have been carried out. "The difference with other years is that in summer, outside the flu season, we continued to surveillance, and we will maintain."
Trilla coincides with the diagnosis of the two problems admitted Chan (the degree of danger and communication). But also indicates that it is difficult to solve. "I probably would have to give regional data, and not an overall assessment. It's like if you ask someone what the weather will do in the world. No one could answer." 16 months warning
- April 24, 2009. The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, the agency responsible for epidemiological surveillance in the U.S., warning of the emergence of a new strain of swine flu that affects Mexico and has infected a group of American students.
- April 25, 2009. The World Health Organization (WHO) reacts and says he is "very concerned" about the spread of the virus.
- April 26, 2009. The virus jumps the Atlantic. The first cases were detected in Spain and Scotland.
- April 29, 2009. The WHO says the disease, grade 5, which means that the virus spreads easily. There is only one level: 6, which corresponds to a pandemic.
- June 11, 2009. Faced with the certainty that the virus is spreading unchecked in America and Europe, says WHO Phase 6, which corresponds to the pandemic.
- December 30, 2009. The Spanish Health Ministry issued its latest report. Collect more than 271 deaths and 18,000 cases.
- August 6, 2010. Latest report from WHO: At least 18 449 deaths in 214 countries since April 2009.
- August 10, 2010. WHO declares the end of the pandemic.
投稿
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿