H1N1 spreading in Afghanistan: WHO

The World Health Organization says it's concerned by the huge increase in cases of H1N1 flu in Afghanistan.

The UN agencysays it has seen a 60-per-cent increase in the number of acute respiratory infections in Afghanistan over the last year.It reports nearly 1,000 cases of H1N1 have been confirmed in 18 of 34 provinces.

Peter Graaf, the WHO representative in Afghanistan, says most of the cases are in the colder, northern parts of the country, including Herat, the capital Kabul and Baghram Air Base.

"The first cases seen in the country were in the military, both the international and Afghan army," said Graaf. "So, we have a large number of relatively young men who fell ill, and from that, we think it spread into the community," he says.

Graaf says most cases of H1N1 have been among healthy young men, who had mild symptoms and recovered. But the illness has now spread to high-risk groups, such as pregnant women.