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作者：Robert Lowes  
出處：WebMD醫學新聞

　　November 12, 2009 — 世界衛生組織(WHO)全流流感計畫的醫療官員Nikki Shindo醫師在記者會中表示，北半球流感季節開始，尋求治療的病患數重擊了烏克蘭、蒙古和阿富汗等國，而H1N1大流行橫跨了歐亞。
　　
　　Shindo醫師指出，烏克蘭的嚴重H1N1流感案例比北半球的流感季節案例少，似乎有許多病患是輕微症狀，且這些患者大多是年輕成人和中年人，我們沒有接獲造成小兒病房無法負擔的小兒病患。
　　
　　她指出，在蒙古，我們聽到的大多是住院中的孕婦。
　　
　　Shindo醫師表示，WHO正加緊努力提供抗病毒藥物給烏克蘭和蒙古等受重創的國家，但是它目前的1000萬劑儲備療程(和未明確提出的小兒膠囊數量)不敷所需，她估計，開發中國家需要足以治療4%人口的藥劑，我們正和全球各國與夥伴們合作，以供應符合全球所需的量。
　　
　　對於同樣短缺的H1N1疫苗，WHO也採取這種合作模式。本週稍早時，WHO宣布，GlaxoSmithKline藥廠將捐助5000萬劑H1N1疫苗，WHO將把這些疫苗提供給開發中國家。


WHO Steps Up Efforts to Assist Countries "Overwhelmed" by H1N1 Flu

By Robert Lowes
Medscape Medical News

November 12, 2009 — The number of patients seeking treatment at the start of the Northern Hemisphere flu season has "overwhelmed" clinics and hospitals in Ukraine, Mongolia, and Afghanistan as the H1N1 pandemic surges across Europe and Asia, said Dr. Nikki Shindo, a medical officer in the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Influenza Programme, during a press conference today.

The proportion of severe cases of H1N1 influenza in the Ukraine is smaller than that found in the Southern Hemisphere during its flu season, noted Dr. Shindo. "It seems like a lot of patients being admitted have rather milder symptoms. And mostly, the admitted people are young adults or middle-aged adults. We haven't heard of pediatric patients overwhelming the pediatric wards.

"From Mongolia, we are hearing that pregnant women are overrepresented [among the hospitalized]," she added.

WHO is stepping up efforts to supply poor, hard-hit countries such as Ukraine and Mongolia with antiviral drugs, but its current stockpile of 10 million courses of treatment (and an unspecified number of pediatric capsules) can't match demand, Dr. Shindo said. She estimated that developing countries need enough courses to treat 4% of their population. "We are working with partners and other countries that have enough of a supply to meet the global need," she said.

WHO also has taken this kind of collaborative approach with H1N1 vaccine, which is in short supply as well. Earlier this week, WHO announced that GlaxoSmithKline will donate 50 million doses of its H1N1 vaccine, and WHO will distribute them to developing nations.