Panel Warns of 90,000 Possible US Flu Deaths
By VOA News 24 August 2009

Negative stain EM image of the swine influenza A/CA/4/09

U.S. President Barack Obama's science advisers say swine flu could kill up to 90,000 Americans during the winter flu season in the United States.

That contrasts with the usual seasonal flu, which is linked to between 30,000 and 40,000 deaths each year.

The report from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology says the H1N1 virus could infect as much as half the U.S. population. The study released Monday calls for the government to speed up the preparation of flu vaccine for distribution to people most at risk.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says drug companies have begun testing swine flu vaccines on children. She says if the testing program continues, a vaccine should be developed by mid-October.

The World Health Organization has declared the swine flu outbreak a pandemic, and it says up to two billion people may eventually be infected.


Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

antigrafikon from VOA.