My aunt called me this morning and expressed her concern about the first suspected case of Influenza H1N1 in West Malaysia as her son is currently in Kuala Lumpur. To date the official has yet to confirm the status of the suspected case.
Earlier on, World Health Organization has revised the grouping & description of pandemic phases to be more precise and easy to understand. The current WHO phase of pandemic alert is 5.
In phase 1, no viruses circulating among animals have been reported to cause infections in human.
In phase 2, viruses circulating among animals have caused infection in humans.
In phase 3, an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant has caused small clusters of disease in people but has not caused community-level outbreaks.
In phase 4, verified human to human transmission of an animal or human-animal influenza ressortant able to cause “community-level outbreaks”.
In phase 5, human to human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this phase, the declaration of phase 5 is a strong signal that pandemic is about to occur.
In phase 6, the pandemic phase, community level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different WHO region in addition to the criteria defined in phase 5. This indicate that a global pandemic is under way.
(Source : World Health Organization - Current WHO Phase of Pandemic Alert)
According to Wikipedia, the WHO definition of “pandemic” are:
- Emergence of a disease new to a population.
- Agents infect humans, causing serious illness.
- Agents spread easily and sustainably among humans.
When these three conditions have met, a pandemic can start. A disease or condition is not a pandemic merely because it is widespread or kills many people, it must also be infectious. For instance, cancer is responsible for many deaths but is not considered a pandemic, because the disease is not infectious or contagious.
(Source : Pandemic, Wikipedia)
If you would like the latest news and the current mapping of Influenza H1N1, you can visit RSOE EDIS - Pandemic Monitoring System. This site offers the current mapping of Influenza H1N1 with statistic of suspected infection, confirm infection, quarantine and details.
Just a short reminder, if you have flu, fever and body ache, please visit your doctor straight away as these can be the symptoms of Influenza H1N1. Do drink plenty of water, get plenty of rest if you need to as this is the time to make sure your body immune system is strong.
Wishing all of you good health.
