tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Prague, May 3 (CTK) - About 600,000 vaccines against swine flu are still being stored in the Czech Republic out of the almost 700,000 doses ordered for 182 million crowns, daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) writes Monday.
However, only 66,000 people have let the vaccine be applied for them and the interest has been negligible, HN writes.
According to catastrophic scenarios, the swine flu was to affect up to three million Czechs out of the total ten-million population, with some predicted 10,000 fatalities, HN writes.
The epidemic was supposed to last three months and to come to a head at around Christmas. Due to the pandemic, the Czech economy was to fall by some 1.5 percent, it adds.
However, nothing of the bleak scenarios has come true. Only 102 people have died from the swine flu and there have been 2471 demonstrable cases of the infection, HN writes.
On the other hand, sanitary authorities estimate that up to 100,000 Czechs were really infected by the disease. However, its course was mostly so mild that doctors even did not have them undergo the tests, it adds.
In fact, seasonal flu causes some 2,000 fatalities annually, HN writes.
Fearing the pandemic, the Czech Republic ordered almost 700,000 vaccines.
"The Health Minister knew from the beginning that if few or many vaccines are ordered, the decision will be bad in either case. It is easy to be wise after the event," Jan Jelinek, chairman of the Association of General Practitioners, told the paper.
"I think that due to the experience, we will underestimate the next epidemic," Jelinek said.
Martina Havlickova from the National Reference Laboratory for Flu said the virus must not be underestimated.
"We are registering three cases of the infection. It [pandemic] is still in movement, the number of those infected is increasing, though at a very slow pace," Havlickova said.
http://praguemonitor.com/2010/05/04/hn-most-swine-flu-vaccines-unused-czechs
However, only 66,000 people have let the vaccine be applied for them and the interest has been negligible, HN writes.
According to catastrophic scenarios, the swine flu was to affect up to three million Czechs out of the total ten-million population, with some predicted 10,000 fatalities, HN writes.
The epidemic was supposed to last three months and to come to a head at around Christmas. Due to the pandemic, the Czech economy was to fall by some 1.5 percent, it adds.
However, nothing of the bleak scenarios has come true. Only 102 people have died from the swine flu and there have been 2471 demonstrable cases of the infection, HN writes.
On the other hand, sanitary authorities estimate that up to 100,000 Czechs were really infected by the disease. However, its course was mostly so mild that doctors even did not have them undergo the tests, it adds.
In fact, seasonal flu causes some 2,000 fatalities annually, HN writes.
Fearing the pandemic, the Czech Republic ordered almost 700,000 vaccines.
"The Health Minister knew from the beginning that if few or many vaccines are ordered, the decision will be bad in either case. It is easy to be wise after the event," Jan Jelinek, chairman of the Association of General Practitioners, told the paper.
"I think that due to the experience, we will underestimate the next epidemic," Jelinek said.
Martina Havlickova from the National Reference Laboratory for Flu said the virus must not be underestimated.
"We are registering three cases of the infection. It [pandemic] is still in movement, the number of those infected is increasing, though at a very slow pace," Havlickova said.
http://praguemonitor.com/2010/05/04/hn-most-swine-flu-vaccines-unused-czechs