H1N1 (swine flu) weekly highlights: December 2 - December 8, 2009

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that "Disease activity has peaked and is declining in North America and has either recently peaked or is currently peaking in much of western and northern Europe." In other good news, WHO also reports no signs of widespread resistance to Tamiflu.

Nevertheless, the WHO has clearly stated it is too soon to call the pandemic over. The global death toll from H1N1 rose to 8,768 as Cyprus, Albania, and the Gaza Strip recorded their 1st H1N1 deaths. The Netherlands saw their first Tamiflu-resistant death.

In the United States, only half of all states reported widespread flu activity, down from 43 states only two weeks ago. England reported new cases were half of the previous week's number.


* Please note that this post will conclude our weekly H1N1 blogs. While the pandemic is far from over, reports of first cases and deaths are less common as H1N1 has spread throughout much of the globe. Numerous H1N1 vaccines have been developed in countries all over the world, and the vaccine shortages seen earlier this year have abated.

HealthMap continues to track H1N1 and all other infectious diseases at http://www.healthmap.org. For the latest disease alerts, you can also follow us on twitter. We hope the H1N1 blogs have been informative and helpful.


Photo courtesy of: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/04/AR2009120402611.html?hpid=sec-health