Swine Flu

The Saudi health minister said Saturday that the kingdom will not ban anyone considered high risk for swine flu from performing the hajj pilgrimage this year. Abdullah al-Rabeeah said it is the responsibility of individual countries to enforce recommendations by international health experts that children, the elderly and pregnant women forgo this year's pilgrimage. "Saudi Arabia does not ban anyone because hajj is a religious event," al-Rabeeah told reporters. "Saudi Arabia has put in place strong recommendations that we hope individual countries will abide by." Al-Rabeeah spoke at the launch of a national swine flu vaccine campaign. The minister, who is also a surgeon, ... Read Full Story

Saudi Arabia began vaccinating its population against swine flu on Saturday, with priority going to government employees working on the annual hajj pilgrimage that takes place later this month. Health ministry officials were the first to receive the inoculation against A(H1N1), the official SPA news agency said. It said the vaccine has also been distributed to all government bodies involved in the hajj, which sees some three million pilgrims descending on the Muslim holy city of Mecca, including around a million from within Saudi Arabia. Local pilgrims will have the option to be vaccinated, it added. The ministry said it is ready to combat ... Read Full Story

In Britain, there are no long lines of people seeking swine flu vaccine. Doctor's offices aren't swamped with desperate calls. And there are no cries of injustice that the vaccine is going to wealthy corporations or healthy people who don't really need it. Here, and across most of Europe, vaccine to protect against the pandemic flu is mostly given by invitation only to those at highest risk for flu complications. "That is one of the great advantages of the British health system," said Dr. Steve Field, president of the Royal College of General Physicians. "We have a list of all the names of patients ... Read Full Story

Only about a third of adults who have tried to get a swine flu vaccine have been able to get it, according to a new national poll released Friday. That's true even for people who are at extra risk for severe complications and should be at the front of the line. The numbers are about the same for parents who tried to get the vaccine for their children, the Harvard School of Public Health poll found. Swine flu vaccine has been available in the United States for about a month, but supplies have been limited because of manufacturing delays. However, availability is picking up, ... Read Full Story

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The H1N1 pandemic flu virus could kill up to 40,000 people across Europe and be followed by seasonal flu waves that could kill the same number, European health experts said on Friday. The Sweden-based European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said epidemics of H1N1, known as swine flu, were now affecting almost all countries in the European Union but it could not predict how intense the peaks would be. What was certain, it said, was that the pandemic would continue to kill thousands and put many patients into intensive care as the northern hemisphere's winter sets in. "All European countries ... Read Full Story