Via B92: Health Minister: Pandemic not finished. Excerpt:
Health Minister Tomica Milosavljević told daily Večernje novosti that the swine flu pandemic has not yet ended.
He said that the flu season lasts until April in the northern hemisphere.
“Saying that the pandemic never was or that that is has passed is countering everything that has been done to protect the people,” Milosavljević said, adding that such behavior is “offensive to the victims” of the flu.
He said that 81 people have died—five pregnant women, five children, about 15-20 completely healthy people—who were infected with the H1N1 virus.
“It is true that fatalities from this virus are similar to the ones from the seasonal flu, but the structure of dying is completely different. The seasonal flu never causes rapid pneumonia that leads to death in two days,” Milosavljević said.
He said that 2.24 percent of the Serbian population has been vaccinated, which is “not a bad result, considering the strong anti-vaccination campaign.”
