2009 swine flu outbreak was 15 times deadlier: study

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The swine flu pandemic of 2009 killed an estimated 284,500 people, some 15 times the number confirmed by laboratory tests at the time, according to a new study by an international group of scientists. The study, published on Tuesday in the London-based journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, said the toll might have been even higher – as many as 579,000 people. The original count, compiled by the World Health Organization, put the number at 18,500. …