*EPF419 02/07/2002
Text: U.N. Health Agency Warns of Flu in 2002-2003
(Advises vaccines for season ahead) (670)

The World Health Organization (WHO) made its annual recommendation February 6 on the types of influenza vaccine that pharmaceutical companies should develop for the upcoming year to best limit the millions of flu cases that affect people in the Northern Hemisphere each winter season.

A WHO press release strongly recommends vaccination against the flu, which infects as many as 100 million people during each season. While most healthy people are able to recover from the flu with only a few days discomfort and rest, the international health agency warns of the disease's potentially fatal consequences for the elderly or individuals with weak immune systems.

A strain of influenza called the Spanish flu caused the most deadly outbreak of an infectious disease in the last century when about 40 million people died in 1918-19.

Further information about influenza and vaccination programs is available at http://www.who.int/emc/diseases/flu/index.html

This text is available in French at http://www.who.int/inf/fr/cp-2002-08.html

Following is the text of the WHO press release:

(begin text)

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

Press Release

6 February 2002

WHO URGES INFLUENZA VACCINATION FOR NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

As the influenza season in the northern hemisphere reaches its peak, the World Health Organization (WHO) is scaling up its efforts to fight this potentially devastating disease.

Influenza is one of the oldest and most common diseases known to man. It can also be one of the deadliest. The "Spanish flu" pandemic of 1918-1919 -- considered to be the worst disease outbreak in the last century -- claimed up to 40 million lives and is thought to have infected half the world's population. The possibility that this could happen again was exemplified by the A(H5N1) episode in Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China in 1997 when one third of infected patients died. Fortunately, this outbreak did not develop into a global health emergency.

During the annual influenza epidemics, the disease infects as many as 100 million people each year in the northern hemisphere. Exact figures are unavailable for most countries but influenza kills approximately 20 000 people in the United States each year. The elderly and children below 1 year of age are particularly at risk.

For most healthy people, influenza amounts to high fever, headaches, coughing and a few days off work or school, followed by complete recovery. For the elderly and chronically ill however, the disease often leads to hospitalization and death. In developing countries, where it is often not perceived as a major public health problem, there is a particularly urgent need to assess the impact of influenza and tackle the disease.

WHO strongly advises early vaccination as the best prevention.

"Influenza vaccines have an excellent safety record. In particular, the elderly and patients with chronic illnesses should see their doctor or health worker and get their flu vaccination," says Dr David L. Heymann, Executive Director, Communicable Diseases, WHO.

Each year, WHO brings together international influenza experts to decide the composition of the influenza vaccine for the next year. More than 230 million influenza vaccine doses are then produced and given globally every year, saving lives, reducing illness in those most at risk and decreasing absenteeism from workplaces and schools.

This year's consultation to decide the vaccine content for the northern hemisphere, 2002-2003 season concluded today at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. WHO recommends the following viruses be used for influenza production next year:

-- an A/New Caledonia/20/99(H1N1)-like virus

-- an A/Moscow/10/99(H3N2)-like virus

-- a B/Hong Kong/330/2001-like virus

-- The widely used vaccine strain is A/Panama/2007/99

The WHO recommendation was discussed today with representatives from all major influenza vaccine companies to allow sufficient time for production of the vaccine before influenza hits again next year.

All WHO Press Releases, Fact Sheets and Features as well as other information on this subject can be obtained on Internet on the WHO home page http://www.who.int/

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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