Army Radio reported on Monday that in the month following the death of four Israelis who had received flu vaccinations, the Ministry of Health had received an additional 11 reports of death following the vaccine.
| Flu Vaccine |
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| Health Ministry: No link between flu vaccine, deaths / Meital Yasur-Beit Or |
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Health officials rule out suspicions death of four patients was caused by flu vaccine |
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Still, no connection was found between any of the death cases and the vaccination.
In a conference on public health that was held last week at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Dr. Emilia Anis, head of the division for infectious diseases in the Ministry of Health reported the new found data.
She pointed out that in the four cases of death which were investigated "there were no common symptoms or common causes of death for the deceased.
A lab examination of the vaccine, including toxicological and virology examinations, did not bring up any irregularities. The risk of death amongst recipients of the vaccine was not higher than expected for this population, namely older people and chronically ill patients."
Why then was this information not made public? According to the Ministry of Health's CEO Professor Avi Israeli "there is nothing to report – because the cases are not connected to the vaccination."
Professor Israeli pointed out that every day some 100 people die in Israel;
most of which are old or chronically ill.
"Following the death case in Kiryat Gat we asked, as a precaution, that if anyone dies, we should be informed and all the cases are being inspected," he added.
The Ministry of Health also pointed out that it has no obligation to report death cases to the public.
Health Minister Yacov Ben Yizri explained that "the report that was given by Dr. Anis shows that those who have passed away were not connected to the flu vaccination. There is nothing tying the incidents together, people die, as is natural. It is important to understand that there is no connection and therefore nothing to report."
He added: "It is unfortunate that some stayed away and did not go to get vaccinated. We feel it in the hospitals' occupancy data."
Last year, due to the bird flu fright, the vaccines had run out by December, and about one million people were vaccinated.
This year, however, following the shortage of vaccinations and the public scare following the deaths, only some 650 thousand people were vaccinated.
The Ministry of Health plans to conduct a study that will investigate the death rate amongst the population that has received flu vaccination, compared to the group which has not.
Unfortunately, the study's results will only be available over a year from now.
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