Health Minister Ewa Kopacz told Polish Radio that Poland is prepared to purchase vaccines against the A/H1N1 virus but will hold off until thorough testing has been carried out.
Kopacz stated that the Health Ministry has the finances to purchase the vaccines, but “I hesitate to make a large purchase as the government then takes responsibility for side effects and not the producer.”
“It would be dishonest to provide vaccines that are not fully tested,” added Kopacz, urging Poles to get vaccines that are already available on the market for seasonal influenza, which is potentially more dangerous than swine flu.
Meanwhile, the Polish Press Agency reports that another patient has been hospitalized in the Tomaszow Lubelski hospital, southeastern Poland, after having returned from the Ukraine with symptoms that are suspected to be the A/H1N1 virus.
The woman was tested and the samples were sent to Warsaw while the hospital awaits confirmation of the virus.
“The woman is in stable condition. The situation is under control and there is no cause to worry,” stated the regional sanitary inspector, Janusz Slodzinski.
According to the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate, there are 185 registered cases of swine flu in Poland.
More than 478,000 people are registered as suffering from flu-like symptoms in Ukraine, 17 of whom have been confirmed with swine flu. Eighty six people have died. The outbreak is most concentrated in Lviv, close to Poland’s eastern border.
(mmj/pg)
Source: PAP/UPC