The World Health Organization is expected to give an update on its H1N1 vaccine plans later this week. Earlier WHO officials said they expect some two billion people to catch the H1N1 influenza by the time the flu pandemic ends. The estimate comes with a big health warning, no one knows how many people so far have caught the new H1N1 strain, and the final number will never be known given that many cases are so mild they may go unnoticed. But a WHO spokeswoman estimates that by the end of a pandemic anywhere between 15% and 45% of the population will have been infected by the new pandemic virus.
The WHO's latest update on July 27 said a total of 816 people had died from H1N1, while the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases, including deaths, was 134,503. Health experts believe that figure is well below the likely real total of infections, which may already be in the millions.
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