Bird flu may not be as deadly as originally thought
Posted February 24, 2012 4:09 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Bird flu may be less deadly than first thought, according to new research in the online edition of the journal “Science.”
The article argues the World Health Organization’s assessment of a death rate topping 50 per cent was misleading.
Virologist Peter Palese of Mount Sinai School of Medicine argues in the article the WHO calculated the death rate using an estimate of human bird flu cases that is too low.
Based on Palese’s figures, their analysis shows the death rate should be under one percent, whereas the WHO has a 50 per cent plus mortality rate.
The WHO reported 586 human cases of the H5N1 flu since 2003, and notes that as of this week, 59 per cent of those people had died. This 50 per cent plus mortality rate may be misleading.
The article points out the cases reported by the WHO include only people who were sick enough to go to a hospital and be laboratory-tested, but none of the people who didn’t get help in a hospital or clinic.
