Seasonal flu may hit Europe after H1N1 - experts

The ECDC's latest daily update said all 27 EU and four EFTA countries have cases of H1N1 pandemic flu and there have been 389 deaths linked to H1N1 in the region since April, including 154 in Britain, 73 in Spain, 25 in Italy and 22 in France.

The ECDC's global toll showed 6,005 fatal cases of H1N1 have been reported. The WHO, which updates its figures weekly, said Thursday 5,712 people have died worldwide since H1N1 was discovered earlier this year.

The ECDC said the numbers of fatal cases associated with pandemic flu were "likely to be gross underestimates" as access to healthcare and lab tests varied from country to country.

GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi-Aventis are among some 25 companies making pandemic vaccines, while other drugmakers including Roche are making antiviral therapies for use as frontline H1N1 treatment.

Nicoll said vaccination programs which started in some European countries in recent weeks were vital to protecting those most at risk but had come too late to halt the disease.

"We're not trying at this stage to protect the whole of society with the vaccines. The strategy is to protect the vulnerable."

(Editing by Janet Lawrence)