According to WHO (World Health Organization), the total number of confirmed swine flu A(H1N1) cases of human infections stands at 9,830, including 79 deaths. The numbers of confirmed cases are rising by approximately 1,000 per day, says WHO. Japan has confirmed cases of H1N1 have risen sharply over the last few days.
Indeed, Swine flu has sickened 21 more students in Japan, and Turkey reported its first case of the potentially pandemic virus that’s spread to about 40 countries.
At the moment, it seems that young people are affected worst by the H1N1 influenza virus, according to the Washington Post; its preference for infecting youths is behavior of a flu pandemic rather than a seasonal flu.
Meanwhile, the US federal government reported 400 new confirmed cases, meaning more than 5,000 Americans are now infected. Experts estimate the number is likely closer to 100,000.
With these kinds of figures and rising numbers in Japan, the WHO is on the verge of a declaring a pandemic , which means it will its alert status to pandemic imminently, according to a former WHO adviser on infectious diseases.