Swine Flu in Greece in December 2009
The pandemic swine flu in Greece is reaching its peak and by Christmas its bulge is expected, according to the Greek National Board of Health.
The data so far show double cases and schools closing because of the flu within the week. The confirmed cases have reached the 6.120 while 12% of the schools in Greece have closed sections – only 6% last week.
The president of the Greek Board of Health, Professor Eleni Giamarellou indicated that almost 800,000 Greeks have already sickened from virus H1N1. In order to have a sufficient protection from the virus, the vaccination of 4million people with the vaccine against the swine flu is needed.
Babies from 6-36 months should also be vaccinated. Since December 1st, 2009, the vaccination will begin for people from 6 months to 49 years old, and from December 7th people over 50 years-old will be vaccinated. Till today only people belonging to sensitive groups have been vaccinated, such as doctors, nurses and hospital personnel.
In any case, 7 to 10 Greeks are opposed to the vaccine, while there is a huge controversy on whether the flu vaccine is risk-free or indeed needed.
A different plan for fighting the swine flu in Greece
Due to the reluctance of Greeks to accept the vaccination, alternative solutions have been proposed. Today we exclusively present a different strategic plan to fight the swine flu:
* Comic Strip by Tasos Maragos – Published in the “9” magazine of the Eleftherotypia newspaper. Translation by www.cretegazette.com