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EUobserver / 60 million people need swine flu vaccine, Brussels warns

Sixty million Europeans will need priority vaccination against swine flu, EU health commissioner Androulla Vassiliou has said, warning that "there won't be vaccinations for everyone."

Speaking to Portuguese news agency Lusa after her visit to a health centre by the Portuguese town of Estoril, the Cypriot commissioner pointed out that the number of people across the EU most at risk from the new type of flu, A (H1N1), had been estimated at 60 million by Brussels' experts, according to AFP.

The new H1N1 flu virus emerged in Mexico and has spread to 136 countries, according to WHO

Health ministers from the 27 member states are due to meet in October to decide on the practical details of the vaccination programme against swine flu which has infected almost 95,000 people in 136 countries since April, according to official figures by World Health Organisation published on 6 July.

Although the new virus has most lead to less severe health problems than ordinary flu, the WHO has reported 429 deaths from the disease.

by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jul 20th, 2009 at 03:14:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]
can anyone explain why we need be more concerned about this particular flu than any of the other supposedly mundane strains of flu that merely kill 10s of thousands every year ?

keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jul 20th, 2009 at 04:06:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Because it is new and unknown.

It's not the mortality rate that makes it scary.

The peak-to-trough part of the business cycle is an outlier. Carnot would have died laughing.

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jul 20th, 2009 at 04:12:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Still not getting it. The mortality rate remains low. It may be new and scary, but it's still killing far fewer people than ordinary flu does.

The UK's death toll so far is 30 - out of tens of thousands, and possibly millions of cases.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Tue Jul 21st, 2009 at 04:16:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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