RIYADH: The Kingdom has set up a panel to test swine flu vaccines before they are made available to men, women and children. Ministry of Health (MoH) spokesman Dr. Khalid Al-Mirghalani confirmed Thursday the panel includes influenza specialists, top health personnel and experts.
“The distribution will start once the findings of the vaccine test are found to be satisfactory and local as well as international health organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) give us the green light,” he said.
“The ministry remains committed to disclosing any negative side effects, if any, after the test-run,” he added.
Al-Mirghalani said the vaccines, which arrive within 15 days, would initially be administered to a limited number of people. He added the MoH had received a small quantity of vaccines, which is being tested by laboratories. The results of the tests have not been revealed yet.
Asked about the rate of recovery from swine flu in the Kingdom, he said: “About 99 percent of all patients suffering from the H1N1 virus are cured within a short time after receiving treatment and are quarantined.”
Five more people died from swine flu this week, bringing the Kingdom’s tally of deaths from the viral attack to a total of 59. The five adults, including two Saudis and three non-Saudis, were unrelated with no underlying health problems and died after Oct. 24.
Al-Mirghalani refused to comment on whether Riyadh and its suburbs are among a few regions nationwide where the virus is more widespread.
“The Kingdom is one of the eight countries, which has been dealing with the H1N1 virus as per scientific parameters and global requirements,” said a member of the MoH Coordination Committee that has been set up to generate awareness about the pandemic. “Under the chairmanship of Dr. Mansour N. Al-Hawasi, deputy minister of health for executive affairs, it has intensified efforts to generate more awareness about H1N1 on a national level.”
The panel, he said, has been holding regular meetings to evaluate the spread of the pandemic, the level of awareness among people in Saudi Arabia and to discuss further courses of action. He also rejected rumors about school closures ahead of the scheduled Eid Al-Adha holidays.
The MoH announced early this week that it will close two schools temporarily after two students died of swine flu. The authorities made the decision after the deaths of a 12-year-old boy in Al-Qassim province and a 14-year-old girl in Al-Sharqiyah province last Saturday. The Ministry of Education announced recently that schools would be closed only for a week if a 10th of students display swine flu symptoms or one dies from the disease.
Health officials have also rejected rumors about the possible spread of disease during Haj this year. The MoH has repeatedly said that it has geared itself well to cope with the problem. It has set up an emergency center with the help of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to get real-time reports from area hospitals and clinics to track how many pilgrims are sick and how many need the free anti-viral medication stockpiled for the Haj.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, the virus claimed more lives. Kuwait reported two more deaths, taking the emirate’s death toll from the virus to 16. (See report on Page 3)
Turkey reported its second swine flu death on Thursday, five days after its first fatal case. “A 34-year-old woman being treated in hospital in Diyarbakir has died,” the Turkish Health Ministry said in a statement.
A total of 1,411 cases have been recorded in Turkey to date, the ministry added. Authorities reported the first fatal case of the H1N1 virus on Saturday after a 29-year-old man died in the capital, Ankara.
