A worker prepares to put up a signboard as people queue to be tested for the swine flu virus at a special H1N1 screening center at Ram Manohar Lohia hospital in New Delhi, India, on Aug. 6. (Manish Swarup/AP Photo)Swine flu infections are increasing in India, Thailand and Vietnam, and appear to have peaked in the Southern Hemisphere, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.
As of Aug. 6, 177,457 confirmed cases of H1N1 have been reported to the UN health agency worldwide, including 1,462 deaths. The full number of total cases is higher, since countries are now only reporting their first confirmed cases. Individual cases no longer have to be tested or reported.
"We are seeing the spread of the pandemic being reported in many of the tropic countries. And in Asia, particularly in India, Thailand and Vietnam. Also we're getting into the monsoon season in those countries at this time," WHO spokeswoman Aphaluck Bhatiasevi told reporters in Geneva.
Monsoon season coincides with regular flu season in Southeast Asia. Both seasonal and H1N1 strains of flu are being detected in the region, she said.
An online map summarizing the pandemic situation in WHO's Southeast Asian region shows an increasing trend in the level of respiratory infections in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand for Aug. 2 to 9, compared to the previous week.
In terms of intensity — an estimate of the proportion of the population with acute respiratory disease — India's level is moderate and Thailand's is moderate to high.
The impact or degree of disruption to health-care services remains low except in Thailand, where it is considered moderate, according to WHO.
Concern for Africa
Transmission of the virus has slowed in the Southern Hemisphere, including Argentina, Chile, Australia and New Zealand, said WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib.
Meanwhile, South Africa's health minister said swine flu may hit the continent harder than other places in the world, given Africa has always been hit hard by outbreaks of communicable diseases.
"What is of particular concern to us, as Africans, is that although the pandemic has spread to our continent last, we may be more severely affected by it," Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi told a regional conference on the pandemic, organized by WHO.
South Africa has nearly 600 confirmed cases and two deaths, Motsoaledi said Tuesday, noting his country has one of the most sophisticated health systems in Africa for tracking the spread of swine flu.
The first case of Influenza A H1N1 was reported in Mexico in April, and WHO declared a pandemic on June 11. The virus is now found in more than 166 countries.
With files from The Associated Press
