Significant Drop in Swine Flu Cases

The Kingdom witnessed a drop in confirmed swine flu cases over the past week, with no new fatalities reported, a Ministry of Health report indicated on Wednesday.

The ministry’s weekly H1N1 update, issued yesterday, showed that 29 swine flu cases were registered between November 25 and December 2, down from 87 the previous week.

The weekly total represented the fourth consecutive decrease and a major drop from last month, when 264 cases were recorded in the November 11-18 period and 293 between November 4 and 11.

One of the new cases registered in the past week was a foreigner, according to a Health Ministry statement, which indicated that 34 per cent of the patients were below the age of 10.

Around one-fourth of the new cases were the 20-24 age bracket, 24 per cent in the 25-29 age group and 11 per cent above the age of 30. Approximately 7 per cent of the new cases were reported among those aged between 10 and 19, the ministry statement said, noting that 58 per cent of the new cases were males.

As of Wednesday, the total number of H1N1 cases reported in the Kingdom since the first case was recorded in June, stood at 2,984, with 14 deaths.

Although authorities began inoculating high-risk groups last month, Bilbeisi noted that many people are still reluctant to take the vaccine. Health authorities have refused to elaborate on the number of people who have been vaccinated against the disease.

In order to curb the spread of swine flu, the ministry is currently vaccinating those categorised as high-risk groups.

These include 30,000 women in the third trimester of pregnancy, 310 patients suffering from kidney failure, children with type 1 diabetes, people with heart failure, an estimated 109 AIDS patients, some 1,200 thalassaemia patients and 10,000 patients with severe asthma.

In addition, the ministry has allocated 5,000 vaccines for medical staff who are in direct contact with swine flu patients, while some civil defence and public security personnel will also be inoculated.

The Health Ministry is purchasing two million vaccines from Novartis and 250,000 from Glaxo SmithKline, with one million doses to be delivered by the end of the year.

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