Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
Greek health minister: Vaccination only way to curb swine flu
Wed, Dec 02 2009 15:49 CET
byGabriel Hershman
Health experts in Greece have stressed that "mass inoculation" was the only effective way to curb the spread of the H1N1 virus as the government started the third phase of its vaccination programme with jabs for people aged between 18 and 49.
Health minister Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, quoted by Greek daily Kathimerini, encouraged Greeks to get vaccinated. "We are entering a dangerous period," she told a news conference.
Kathimerini quoted Giorgos Saroglou, an infectious diseases expert at Athens University, as saying that the worst was yet to come and that a new spike in the pandemic could hit the country in the spring.
According to Kathimerini, "more than 80 000 people have been inoculated at hospitals and health centres across the country so far and thousands more are expected to visit one of the 600 vaccination centers this week to get their jabs".
The paper, however, notes that there is still skepticism among some people about possible side effects to taking the drug.
Meanwhile the number of deaths in Greece realted to the swine flu rose to 19 on December following the deaths of a 74-year-old woman and two men, aged 64 and 55. Both individuals were said to have underlying health problems.
http://sofiaecho.com/2009/12/02/824555_greek-health-minister-vaccination-only-way-to-curb-swine-flu
Wed, Dec 02 2009 15:49 CET
byGabriel Hershman
Health experts in Greece have stressed that "mass inoculation" was the only effective way to curb the spread of the H1N1 virus as the government started the third phase of its vaccination programme with jabs for people aged between 18 and 49.
Health minister Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, quoted by Greek daily Kathimerini, encouraged Greeks to get vaccinated. "We are entering a dangerous period," she told a news conference.
Kathimerini quoted Giorgos Saroglou, an infectious diseases expert at Athens University, as saying that the worst was yet to come and that a new spike in the pandemic could hit the country in the spring.
According to Kathimerini, "more than 80 000 people have been inoculated at hospitals and health centres across the country so far and thousands more are expected to visit one of the 600 vaccination centers this week to get their jabs".
The paper, however, notes that there is still skepticism among some people about possible side effects to taking the drug.
Meanwhile the number of deaths in Greece realted to the swine flu rose to 19 on December following the deaths of a 74-year-old woman and two men, aged 64 and 55. Both individuals were said to have underlying health problems.
http://sofiaecho.com/2009/12/02/824555_greek-health-minister-vaccination-only-way-to-curb-swine-flu