"At least two million people have been vaccinated against the H1N1 flu in Hungary with a population of ten million, which is a good ratio compared to other European countries, chief medical officer Ferenc Falus said. He stressed, though that it is "flock immunity" that would provide real protection against the new flu.Falus told national radio Kossuth on Tuesday there are ample resources available of the vaccine that provides a 70-80% immunity. He underlined that the 20% vaccination rate is outstanding in European comparison. A total of ten million people have been vaccinated against pandemic influenza A (H1N1) in Europe that has a population of 450 million, he reminded.
There has been wariness towards H1N1 influenza vaccines in Hungary, but an increasing number of the local population have started to believe getting the shot was in fact a good idea. The trigger was news from Ukraine about H1N1 pandemic that set off panic and politicking, as well as local reports about pregnant women falling "victim" to the flu. Falus said, however, that they still have some convincing to do with regard to parents that are reluctant to have their children vaccinated.
A pregnant woman carrying the H1N1 virus has died at a hospital of Szeged University (S), Zsolt Molnár, head of the clinic told MTI on Monday.
All together 25 people in Hungary have died from complications related to the new flu virus so far.
The 40-year-old woman had been hospitalised with pneumonia and other complications over four weeks ago.
Molnár said that three other H1N1 patients were in intensive care at two clinics of the university, but added that their condition was stable.
Hungarian health authorities declared a flu epidemic on 18 November, when the weekly number of patients reached 22,000.
Last week, 42,900 people sought medical help with flu-like symptoms, 6% more than two weeks earlier, Health Minister Tamás Székely announced on Wednesday.
He underlined, though that the steep rise in patient numbers observed over the past weeks has come to a halt by now.
About 22-23% of the population have been vaccinated against the new flu, he added.
Falus said real protection from the virus may be provided only by "flock immunity", i.e. if every member of a community gets the vaccine.
He has once again urged pregnant women to be vaccinated, saying he understands their dilemma, but without the level of immunity the vaccine provides chances of serious complications are ten or twenty times as large.
The graphs below present influenza morbidity rates (ILI or ARI, and SARI where available) obtained from the surveillance system. The bar chart presents influenza virus detections based on respiratory swabs collected by the surveillance physicians."
Source: Portfolio Online Financial Journal
10.12.2009