Swine flu death toll reaches 2,185: WHO

28 August 2009 Geneva - Around the world at least 2,185 people have died from swine flu, an official from the World Health Organization said Friday.

Spokesman Gregory Hartl said the latest figure “understates” the total number of deaths from the A(H1N1) pandemic.

Health officials have said that while the virus was still spreading rapidly and widely, the disease is generally mild, and most people infected make a complete recovery within several days.

Hartl noted that it would be “unwise” to try to estimate the exact mortality rates from the virus.

“There is no way one can produce even half-way estimates until after the pandemic is over,” Hartl told reporters in Geneva, where the WHO has its headquarters.

While vaccine production is under way, the doses have not yet received regulatory approval. Anti-virals have been generally affective for patients already infected with the disease.