At least 3,486 people worldwide have been killed by the A/H1N1 influenza since the new virus was identified in April, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in an update on Friday.

The Americas region has the highest death toll of 2,625, followed by the West Pacific region with 337 deaths.

The WHO, which declared the A/H1N1 flu a pandemic in June, said the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases worldwide was now more than 296,471. But this understated the real number of infections as countries were no longer required to test and report individual cases.

According to the agency, the A/H1N1 virus continues to be the predominant circulating virus of influenza, both in the northern and southern hemispheres. There is still no signs that the virus has mutated to a more virulent or lethal form.

Although the virus can cause severe and fatal illness, the number of such cases remains relatively small.

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