Data on flu deaths are potentially misleading, say researchers

The only thing that can definitely be said about the A/H1N1 flu outbreak is that the virus is not becoming more virulent, said epidemiologists this week.

To get an accurate idea of the death rate from the current pandemic studies need to be carried out that combine a community sample, to monitor the extent of mild disease, together with a hospital survey to determine numbers of more severe cases and deaths, they say in a paper in the BMJ (2009;339:b2840, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2840).

Azra Ghani, professor …