Global swine flu deaths slow as WHO toll passes 6,250

The number of swine flu deaths worldwide passed the 10,000 mark about eight months after the pandemic strain was uncovered in April, reaching 10,582, World Health Organisation data showed Friday."As of 13 December 2009, worldwide more than 208 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including at least 10,582 deaths," the WHO said.In data for December 6 released a week ago, the death toll stood at 9,596.

The global death toll from swine flu approached the 16,000 mark as the pandemic waned in much of Europe and Asia, the World Health Organisation said Friday."As of 14 February 2010, worldwide more than 212 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including at least 15,921 deaths," the WHO said in its latest update.The toll recorded since the A(H1N1) pandemic virus was first uncovered in Mexico and the United States last April grew by 629 compared to the previous week.

The global death toll from swine flu has risen to 15,174, up 463 from a week ago, but the pandemic is steadily losing momentum around the world, the World Health Organisation said on Friday."As of 31 January 2010, worldwide more than 209 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including at least 15,174 deaths," the WHO said.

Around 6,750 people have died from the swine flu pandemic, World Health Organisation data showed Friday, about 500 more than a week ago.Data posted a week ago showed that 6,250 people have died from the A(H1N1) virus since it was first uncovered in April.The number of fatalities remains the highest in the Americas, where 4,806 deaths have been recorded.The Asia-Pacific region posted 1,323 deaths, while in Europe, at least 350 people have succumbed to pandemic flu.

More than 11,500 people have died from swine flu worldwide since the pandemic strain was uncovered in April, World Health Organisation data showed Wednesday.The WHO said overall A(H1N1) influenza "activity has recently peaked in much of the (northern) hemisphere," including North America and western Europe, where the disease had surged in recent months with the onset of the colder season.

The number of global swine flu deaths spiked by 700 in a week, the World Health Organisation said Friday, as Ukraine closed schools and cinemas in the toughest measures taken in Europe over the virus.More than 5,700 people have now died from the A(H1N1) since it broke out in April in Mexico and the United States in April, the WHO said.The biggest rise in the past week was recorded in the Americas, were 636 more people were reported killed by swine flu, bringing the region's death toll to 4,175, the UN agency said.

World Health Organisation director general Margaret Chan announced Tuesday the end of the swine flu pandemic, more than a year after it was declared."The world is no longer in phase six of the pandemic alert. We are now moving into the post-pandemic period," Chan said in a telephone news conference."The new H1N1 virus has largely run its course," she added.The top phase of the WHO's six tier pandemic alert scale corresponds to a pandemic, or global spread of a disease.