A large team of researchers from the World Health Organization (WHO) and many other institutions performed a new analysis of serologic studies from 19 countries in order to estimate the infection rate of the 2009 H1N1 influenza during the first year of the pandemic. The study, published in Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, showed that about 24% of the population were infected with the H1N1 virus during the first wave of the pandemic. Of these infected, approximately 0.02% died.These results are slightly higher than the official estimates made by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the period immediately following the outbreak of the virus, and confirm the age-related distribution of H1N1 incidence, with the children being the most affected when compared to the over 65. One of the possible limitations of the study, as highlighted by the authors themselves, is that the vaccine might had little impact on their results, due to conflicting results and low vaccine coverage in most countries.
Evaluation of 2009 infection rate
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Karen Hallberg, on peace and science
In a world marked by wars and global crises, the new Secretary General of Pugwash tells us about the challenges of disarmament and the value of scientific dialogue for peace (photo: Karen Hallberg, source Wikipedia).
Pugwash is the name of a Canadian fishing village and a commitment to peace. In July 1957, at the height of the Cold War, twenty-two scientists gathered here for the first Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs. The group was led by the mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell, who, two years earlier on 9 July 1955, presented the Russell and Einstein Manifesto in London's Caxton Hall. In this manifesto, the philosopher and physicist (who died in April but had signed it) called on the world to renounce war.