The government committee on pandemics has decided to release between 75,000-80,000 packages of the antiviral drug Tamiflu from reserves to pharmacies to treat the common flu.

The committee has announced that, while the number of cases of common seasonal influenza has risen dramatically in Poland, it has not yet reached the level of epidemic.

The government will purchase 40,000 flu vaccines with plans to purchase an additonal 273,000 jabs for those most at risk including pregnant women and children younger than two years old. Health Minister Ewa Kopacz says that the hope is to reduce the risk of common flu in order to avert the A/H1N1 virus commonly known as swine flu.

Currently, the number of seasonal flu cases in Poland far outweighs the number of swine flu cases with over 40,000 people having contracted viral influenza in the last week as compared to 3,600 for the same time in 2008. The number of swine flu cases amounts to just over 250, though three people with the A/H1N1 virus have died in recent days.

Kopacz announced Tuesday evening that those who died of swine flu “were ill with other flu viruses that severely weakened their immune system.” The Health Minister recalled that, in previous years, an average of 1 in 1,000 people contracts seasonal flu annually in Poland and throughout Europe. (mmj)

Related Stories: Swine flu woman dies. thenews.pl. 17 November 2009