646,000 die from flu each year

Global mortality rate from disease higher than expected

CHICAGO: As many as 646,000 people die globally from seasonal influenza each year, US health officials said, a rise from earlier assessments of the disease’s death toll.

Global death rates from seasonal influenza are likely between 291,000 and 646,000 each year, depending on the severity of the flu strain, they said on Wednesday.

That is up from a prior estimate range of 250,000 to 500,000 deaths, according to officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published in the medical journal The Lancet.

The CDC did not give reasons for the hike in estimates but said the study was based on data from a larger, more diverse sample of countries.

It excludes deaths during flu pandemics and from conditions exacerbated by the flu, such as heart disease. “These findings remind us of the seriousness of flu and that prevention should be a global priority,” said Dr Joe Bresee, associate director for global health at the CDC’s Influenza Division and a co-author of the study.

The greatest flu mortality burden falls on the world’s poorest regions and among older adults.

People aged 75 and older and in sub-Saharan Africa had the highest rates of flu-associated respiratory deaths, the study found.

Eastern Mediterranean and South-East Asian countries had slightly lower but still high rates of flu-associated respiratory deaths, the researchers said.

Dr Peter Salama, executive director of the World Health Organisation’s Healt Emergencies Programme, said the findings “highlight the importance of flu prevention for seasonal epidemics as well as preparedness for pandemics”.