Vaccine still weeks away (Illustration)
Photo: AP
Swine flu: 15 in serious condition
Health Ministry releases updated data about H1N1 virus infection rates in Israel; says 2,000 cases diagnosed so far
The Health Ministry on Sunday published an updated report numbering the H1N1 virus infections in Israel.
The ministry's statement said that so far, 2,000 have been diagnosed with the virus known as swine flu, and that 15 of them have been hospitalized in serious condition.
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Nevertheless, the ministry estimates that the infection rate is actually much higher and that the majority of the patients have yet to be diagnosed.
Worldwide clinical trials in H1N1 virus vaccine are in full swing, but the results are said to be at least six weeks away.
Friday saw Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman contract French vaccine manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur – the world's largest vaccine company – as Israel's vaccine supplier.
Litzman is scheduled to leave for the United States on Sunday evening for a series of meetings with US health officials. The deputy health minister will try to enlist the US' help in obtaining vaccines for high-risk groups.
A recent Health Ministry recently said that up to 700 people in Israel may die from the H1N1 virus over the coming winter, but ministry Director-General Avi Israel said that, "The public must remember that in most cases swine flu is a mild disease.
"The public should follow the regular guidelines – anyone who is not in any of the high-risk groups and does not have more than a light case of the flu, should not go to a hospital."
The H1N1 virus high-risk groups include pregnant women, people aged 65 or older, young children under five and people who suffer from chronic heart, lung, kidney, liver or neurological conditions, as well as those how have a suppressed immune system.
