WHO urges restraint on Tamiflu in swine flu cases

MEXICO CITY – With swine flu still spreading, the U.N. health agency is warning countries to limit their use of antiviral drugs to only high-risk patients to ensure adequate supplies in case the virus should mutate and become more dangerous.

The global outbreak appears mild, but skittishness is evident. Not long after Switzerland lifted its advisory against travel to Mexico and the United States on Tuesday, the Japanese national women’s soccer team canceled a tour to North America, where most swine flu cases have been reported.

In Mexico’s Baja California state on the U.S. border, 5,689 children were turned away from schools when classes resumed Monday because they had symptoms such as runny noses, headaches or sore throats, the state education department reported Tuesday.

Three more nations – Cuba, Thailand and Finland – reported their first confirmed swine flu cases, all in people who had traveled to Mexico. A 24-year-old Hong Kong man returning from the United States was confirmed Wednesday as the Chinese territory’s second case of swine flu, authorities said.

And China confirmed its second case of swine flu on the mainland, in a man who had recently returned from Canada.

There are now 33 countries reporting an estimated total of 5,916 confirmed swine flu cases, including 3,009 in 45 U.S. states, 2,282 in Mexico and 358 in Canada.
The death total is relatively low – 63, of which 58 were in Mexico, three in the United States, one in Canada and one in Costa Rica.

But health experts worry about the chance that the virus might become more lethal in the coming months, saying it is important not to overuse antiviral drugs since supplies are limited.