An epidemiology expert says that Poland urgently needs a swine flu vaccine strategy before an epidemic takes off.
While Health Minister Ewa Kopacz is negotiating the price of anti-swine flu vaccine with five pharmaceutical companies, Professor Andrzej Zielinski, national consultant on epidemiology, claims that regardless of the result of the negotiations, the government should urgently work out a strategy of vaccination for high risk group members.
“We need to decide who will be given the vaccine in the first place, find people who belong to high risk groups and assess the degree of hazard. It requires a lot of logistical preparation,” says Zielinski.
Today, a pandemic committee will meet to discuss the current flu-related situation in Poland, which has deteriorated since the beginning of November. Over 40,000 people contracted flu virus last week, while last year only 3,600 Poles suffered from the disease.
It has been confirmed that almost 300 flu cases were caused by A/H1N1 virus. So far two people have died from swine flu in Poland and several patients are in a critical state.
Prof. Zielinski recommends anti-flu jabs and advises to first vaccinate doctors, who are in constant danger of contracting A/H1N1 virus.
A 31-year-old man from the western city of Wroclaw is the first doctor diagnosed with swine flu in Poland. The patient, who is currently being hospitalized at an intensive care unit, is in a bad condition and uses a respirator.(mg)