By Kenny Chee

THE Influenza A (H1N1) viral strain is no longer the dominant flu virus here, Singapore's Ministry of Health said yesterday.

And, since the strain has been found to be in the process of becoming seasonal in nature, Singapore and other Asean countries have stepped down, or are stepping down, their pandemic alert levels, said Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan.

The Health Ministry said that, as of last week, Influenza A (H1N1) comprised 31 per cent of all flu cases in the community here. But it is no longer the main circulating flu strain in Singapore, as it was as late as in May.

The seasonal strains, Influenza A (H3N2) and Influenza B, now constitute 45 per cent and 24 per cent of flu cases here, respectively.

In the last week of May, H1N1 accounted for 50 per cent of circulating strains, with the rest made up of H3N2 and Influenza B.

Last year, the emergence of H1N1, then a new flu strain, caused a worldwide health crisis.

The World Health Organization declared H1N1 to be a pandemic, which killed over 18,000 people globally. The virus killed at least 26 people in Singapore.

While H1N1 was found to be more infectious than seasonal flu strains, it was not as lethal as the Sars virus that rocked Asia in 2003.

On Wednesday, the WHO said it would not declare the end of the pandemic for now, as it thinks it is too early to do so after talking to some countries in the Southern hemisphere, Reuters reported. The Southern hemisphere is experiencing its winter-flu season now.

Yesterday, at the 10th Asean Health Ministers Meeting, which ends today, its chairman, Mr Khaw, noted that the WHO is reviewing the flu-pandemic status and alert level.

Speaking on behalf of the Asean health ministers, he added: "Going forward, we urge the WHO to review pandemic alert levels, taking into consideration the severity or virulence factor for future pandemics."

He said that the Asean health ministers agreed that the H1N1 pandemic "no longer poses an immediate public health threat to the international community".

But it was still vital to educate the public about good hygiene and encourage highrisk groups to get seasonalflu vaccination, they agreed.

Mr Khaw added that the region has other perennial threats to deal with, dengue being one of them.

In the light of this, he said that the Asean health ministers agreed to support a proposal to observe an Asean Dengue Day to raise awareness of the disease.

The Asean leaders also said that they would task their senior officials to study how to achieve broader international cooperation, such as with East Asian countries, to address specific health issues.

Mr Khaw said: "When fighting international disease outbreaks like H1N1 and Sars, we are most effective when working with as many of our neighbours as possible."

kennyc@sph.com.sg

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