H1N1 flu cases, death toll rise: WHO

H1N1 flu cases, death toll rise: WHO:

"GENEVA (Reuters) – The number of confirmed cases of the new Influenza A (H1N1) flu has climbed to 6,497, including 65 deaths, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

The number of countries reporting confirmed cases remains at 33, with the vast majority of cases in Mexico and the United States, the WHO said in a twice-daily update.

The latest update appeared before a meeting of experts later on Thursday by the WHO to decide whether drugmakers should switch production of flu vaccine to deal with the new outbreak, widely known as swine flu, from seasonal flu.

Seasonal flu kills 500,000 people a year, mainly the elderly or those with respiratory problems like asthma.

So the WHO will want to be sure that the H1N1 outbreak poses a severe threat before recommending the switch.

Drugmakers do not have the capacity to make both. One question the experts will examine is whether a course against swine flu would require two shots rather than one, taking up twice as much manufacturing capacity.

Recommendations by the experts will be put to the WHO's World Health Assembly next week. In the meantime manufacturers have already started producing the H1N1 vaccine."