WHO: nearly 5,000 swine flu deaths worldwide

Nearly 5,000 people have reportedly died from H1N1 flu since it emerged this year and developed into a global epidemic, the World Health Organization said Friday.

The figure is considered an underestimate since most countries have stopped counting individual cases of H1N1, which is also known as swine flu.

WHO said there were 4,999 total deaths through Oct. 18, most of them in the Western Hemisphere. The figure was up 264 from a week earlier.

Iceland had its first swine flu death this week, and WHO said Sudan and Trinidad and Tobago also reported deaths from the virus for the first time this week.

In London, drug maker GlaxoSmithKline PLC said children may only need one shot of its swine flu vaccine to be protected.

In its statement Friday, Glaxo said one dose was enough to boost children's immune systems to fight the virus, based on data from a trial in Spain in 200 children aged six months to 3 years.

Glaxo's finding comes after experts said they expected children would need two doses, since their immune systems are weaker than those of adults. Last week, rival vaccine maker Sanofi Aventis said children would likely need two doses of vaccine against swine flu.

While most people recover from swine flu without needing medical treatment, the virus strikes children particularly hard.

According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of hospitalizations and nearly a quarter of deaths due to swine flu are in children and adults under 25.

An Associated Press poll found that one-third of American parents don't want their children to get the swine flu shot, with many citing concerns about side effects.

Of the thousands of people who have so far received the swine flu vaccine, the most commonly reported side effects have been soreness where the injection was given and minor flu symptoms.

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