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Prague, March 18 (CTK) - The Czech Republic ranks among the five EU countries with the highest swine flu-related death rate per 100,000 inhabitants as 102 people have died of it in the country so far, chief sanitary officer Michael Vit told CTK yesterday, referring to EU statistics.
Another four EU countries with the highest swine flu death toll are Hungary, Malta, Portugal and Slovakia. The death rate in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Portugal oscillates around one person per 100,000 people, in Malta it is slightly higher, according to statistics from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
A total of 66,000 people have been vaccinated against swine flu in the 10.5-million Czech Republic, using 30 percent of the imported vaccine doses.
Experts have failed to persuade the selected groups that the vaccination will really protect them, Vit added.
The Czech Republic is to buy a total of 700,000 vaccine doses. The remaining 462,000 that have not been imported yet are stored in Belgium.
The Czech Republic originally ordered one million vaccine doses for 220 million crowns last August. It can take a smaller amount of minimally 700,000 without any sanctions, and thus save some 55 million crowns.
Only very few people suffering from chronic diseases have decided to be inoculated against swine flu, Professor Roman Prymula, head of the Czech Vaccinology Association, said.
The Czech government recently approved that swine flu vaccine be available for all Czech citizens who would demand it. The vaccination is voluntary and free of charge.
A number of people may have been infected with swine flu in risk work places, such as hematologic and oncological wards, he added.
Moreover, the Czech Republic tends to register all deaths related to swine flu very thoroughly not to overlook any such case.
Autopsies were carried very carefully in these cases to compare whether swine flu was really among the factors causing death, Prymula explained.
Another four EU countries with the highest swine flu death toll are Hungary, Malta, Portugal and Slovakia. The death rate in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Portugal oscillates around one person per 100,000 people, in Malta it is slightly higher, according to statistics from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
A total of 66,000 people have been vaccinated against swine flu in the 10.5-million Czech Republic, using 30 percent of the imported vaccine doses.
Experts have failed to persuade the selected groups that the vaccination will really protect them, Vit added.
The Czech Republic is to buy a total of 700,000 vaccine doses. The remaining 462,000 that have not been imported yet are stored in Belgium.
The Czech Republic originally ordered one million vaccine doses for 220 million crowns last August. It can take a smaller amount of minimally 700,000 without any sanctions, and thus save some 55 million crowns.
Only very few people suffering from chronic diseases have decided to be inoculated against swine flu, Professor Roman Prymula, head of the Czech Vaccinology Association, said.
The Czech government recently approved that swine flu vaccine be available for all Czech citizens who would demand it. The vaccination is voluntary and free of charge.
A number of people may have been infected with swine flu in risk work places, such as hematologic and oncological wards, he added.
Moreover, the Czech Republic tends to register all deaths related to swine flu very thoroughly not to overlook any such case.
Autopsies were carried very carefully in these cases to compare whether swine flu was really among the factors causing death, Prymula explained.
