Swine flu officially a global pandemic
The World Health Organisation has upgraded swine flu to global pandemic status, lifting the A(H1N1) virus to phase six on the alert level.
Swine flu is the first global influenza pandemic since the Hong Kong influenza, more than 40 years ago.
However, the escalation merely reflects the spread of the virus, now in more than 70 countries, rather than its severity.
“In the past, other pandemic flu viruses have been more serious than the seasonal variants they replaced… so far this pandemic strain has been mild in its effects,” said Professor Adrian Sleigh, spokesperson for the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University.
Confirmed cases of the flu in Australia has reached more than 1,300, with the majority concentrated in Victoria. Concern centres on the spread of the virus as Australia enters the winter months where infection rates are higher.
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