***Level 6 Swine Flu Pandemic****

"The World Health Organization told its member countries Thursday that it is raising its flu alert level to 6, meaning that it is declaring the first flu pandemic in 41 years.

So what does that mean?

Flu pandemics occur when a strain of the flu virus mutates into a new form that can spread from human to human and to which people have no natural immunity.

Because there is no widespread immunity to the new strain of H1N1, its effects are worse than the normal flu. It is also difficult to predict which age groups will be worst hit by a pandemic strain.

Why is swine flu a bigger concern than seasonal flu, which sickens hundreds of thousands and kills between 30,000 and 40,000 people in the U.S. each year?

Scientists say it’s because swine flu is killing not only those in “high risk” groups, i.e. the elderly, the very young and those with compromised immune systems, it’s also killing healthy people.

There were three pandemics in the 20th Century: in 1918 (Spanish influenza); 1957 (Asian influenza); and 1968 (Hong Kong influenza). According to the WHO, the 1918 pandemic killed between 40 million and 50 million people worldwide, making it one of the deadliest epidemics in human history.

What Does Level 6 Mean?

Raising the alert to level 6 means that swine flu has reach widespread human infection.

This means governments should ready their pandemic preparedness plans and increase detection systems for potential cases, which most are already doing."

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