"Hungary's National Health and Surgeon General’s Office has reached an agreement with the police force which will assist with the safe delivery of vaccines to vaccination centres, Health Minister Tamás Székely said in a press conference on Thursday. Help from the police is required due to the large number of vaccination points, the minister added.The total number of vaccination centres will rise to 203 with new units opening on Friday morning. The ministry has launched a new website at www.jarvany.hu to inform the public of the latest developments. The site features a map of vaccination points, which are more or less evenly distributed throughout Hungary, Székely said.
"What I can recommend to everyone from where I stand is get vaccinated if possible," Székely said, adding that the vaccination centres administered 8,400 doses on the first 4 days of operation.
Deputy Surgeon General Kornélia Molnár said the new vaccination centres are to receive the first supplies today.
The supplier will deliver the 4 million free doses by November 30 as agreed in the contract. There is no shortage of the vaccine as state depots have about 3.8 million doses in stock, in addition to a manufacturer stock of 800,000 doses ready to be shipped, Székely replied to journalist inquiries.
Flu-like symptoms, demand for vaccine on the rise
Doctors in Hungary saw 34,100 patients with flu-like symptoms last week, up 55% from the week before. According to a survey by Nézőpont Institute, demand for the H1N1 vaccine has risen sharply, wire service MTI reported.
234 suspected flu cases are currently hospitalized in Hungary, Surgeon General Ferenc Falus said on Wednesday.
New centres are scheduled to open on Friday, boosting the total number to 200. This number is sufficient to vaccinate 15,000 to 20,000 people daily, Health Minister Tamás Székely said. Currently there are no plans to keep the vaccination centres open on weekends.
Based on the survey findings, demand for the pandemic flu vaccine has increased sharply in the past 4 weeks. In October, only 16% of the poll participants said they were planning to get themselves vaccinated, the rate increased to 30% in November. Of the 2.5 million "pro-vaccine" respondents, about 1.3 million adults have already done so, according to Nézőpont, which conducted the latest survey between November 17 and 20.
So far about 1.5 million Hungarians have been vaccinated of the 10 million total population.
More dangerous than previously believed
H1N1, the virus responsible for the worldwide flu pandemic, is a great deal more virulent than it was thought before; it is capable of producing materials that weaken the normal resistance of the human body, Director András Falus of Semmelweis University’s Genetics, Cell and Immune Biology Institute told newswire MTI.
The reproduction rate of the virus is very fast, rapidly spreading the disease. Listing dangerous complications, András Falus stressed potential impact on lung cells, causing lung haemorrhage.
"The danger is real and imminent," he emphasized, citing a discussion in a recent pandemic conference in Stockholm, where speakers underlined the unexpected dangers involved in the pandemic."
Source: Portfolio Online Financial Journal
27.11.2009