H1N1 now main strain worldwide

The World Health Organization's flu chief said the H1N1 flu virus has now become the predominant flu strain worldwide.

In some countries, H1N1 flu accounts for as much as 70 percent of the flu viruses being sampled, said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO's top flu official.

While most people recover from the illness without needing medical treatment, officials are also continuing to see severe cases in people younger than 65 -- people who are not usually at risk during regular flu seasons.

"We remain quite concerned about the patterns that we're seeing," Fukuda said during a news briefing Thursday.

He said that the H1N1 flu virus appeared to be fairly stable, and that samples from around the world remained very similar to when the virus was first identified in April.

Health officials are bracing for an upsurge in cases as winter sets in, Fukuda said.

He said that vaccinations against H1N1, also known as swine flu, have started in 20 countries and that millions of doses have been delivered safely with no adverse events.

big N.Y. Companies receive vaccine

Some of New York's biggest companies, including Wall Street giants Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, received doses of H1N1 flu vaccine for at-risk employees, drawing criticism that the hard-to-find vaccine is going first to the privileged.

Hospitals, universities and the Federal Reserve Bank also got doses of the vaccine for employees who need it the most, such as pregnant women or chronically ill workers, according to the city's health department.

In order to receive the vaccine, companies had to have their own medical staff. Distributing large doses of the vaccine to such businesses is "a great avenue for vaccinating people at risk," said Jessica Scaperotti, spokeswoman for the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

But critics said Wall Street firms should not have access to the vaccine before less wealthy Americans.

"Vaccines should go to people who need them most, not people who happen to work on Wall Street," Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said Thursday.

EVEN REMOTE TRIBES AREN'T SAFE

H1N1 flu has struck the remote Yanomami tribe in Venezuela, showing that no one is safe from the virus. Seven people have died from the flu out of a population of 28,000. The WHO's Fukuda said the virus has struck aboriginal populations in Australia severely, and it is not clear yet whether the high rate of infection is related to a genetic susceptibility or poor health care.

ASSOCIATED PRESS, LOS ANGELES TIMES