WHO urges restraint on Tamiflu in H1N1 virus cases

I / Mexico City May 13, 2009, 15:16 IST

With swine flu still spreading, the UN 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 US yesterday, 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 US border, 5,689 children were turned away from schools when classes resumed day before yesterday because they had symptoms like runing noses, headaches or sore throats, the state education department reported.      

Three more nations Cuba, Thailand and Finland reported their first confirmed swine flu cases, all in people who had traveled to Mexico.      

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 5,915 confirmed swine flu cases, including 3,009 in 45 US states, 2,282 in Mexico and 358 in Canada.