2009's swine flu deaths could be 20-times higher than official figures

The 2009 swine flu pandemic could have been responsible for more deaths than originally thought. A new study that involved 26 different countries has suggested that more people died as a result of contracting swine flu during the H1N1 outbreak than stated by official figures.

A total of 60 researchers were involved in the study that was published in the journal 'PLOS Medicine', which suggests that H1N1 death rates could be up to ten-times higher than official estimates. Respiratory deaths across the globe as a result of the virus were found to number at 203,000, which is much higher than the World Health Organisation's (WHO) lab-confirmed figures.

Researchers also added the number of deaths that were caused by other health issues that had been exacerbated by the H1N1 virus, which ultimately doubled the overall figure. In total the number of deaths were more than 20-times higher than WHO's figures. In total the number of deaths as a result of the H1N1 virus around the world could be as high as 400,000.

According to Doctor Lone Simonsen, lead author of the study and research professor at the Department of Global Health at the George washington University School of Public Health and Health services, it was also found that the majority of people who died as a result of the virus were young in age or lived in certain areas of the Americas. Between 62 per cent to 85 per cent of deaths that occurred in 2009 due to H1N1 were estimated to be people under the age of 65.  

Previous figures from WHO suggested that 18,500 people died during 2009 as a result of the H1N1 virus. It was already accepted that figures were likely to be higher due to the fact that many cases of the virus were not confirmed in laboratories.  

The new study will help to assess whether the public health response was adequate for the scale of the problem or whether it was excessive. It could also help to better understand how the virus affected different people in various areas of the globe.