CAIRO: The global H1N1 pandemic claimed the lives of five more people in Egypt, raising the death toll to 224, announced Abdel Rahman Shahin, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health. The five cases include a 27-year-old woman from Gharbeya, a 20-year-old woman from Sohag, a 62-year-old man from Port Said, a three-month-old baby from Beni Suef and a 49-year-old woman from Giza. The Ministry of Health reported 950 new H1N1 cases in this past week, raising the total number of cases in the Egypt to 15,036 since the pandemic first appeared in Egypt last June. These include 5,388 cases among school students and 835 university students. The number of patients who have been treated from H1N1 are 14,607, which account for 97.1 percent of the patients. In its latest H1N1 pandemic report, the World Health Organization has again mentioned Egypt. "The most intense areas of pandemic influenza virus transmission currently are in parts of North Africa, South Asia, and east and southeastern Europe, stated the report released on Jan. 15. "In North Africa, limited data suggest that transmission of pandemic influenza virus remains active throughout the region, particularly in Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt, it added. In a related note, Minister of Health Hatem El-Gabali decided to hold on to two million doses of the swine flu vaccine until its side effects on those who took it in Egypt are further studied and reported. Susceptible groups to the H1N1 virus include airport employees, traffic officers, mailmen, students and those in the transportation sector. People with chronic illnesses such as respiratory disease, diabetes, obesity, blood diseases, tumors and others diseases of the heart, liver and kidneys are also part of this group, he said in a press statement by the ministry. Shahin said that they will import three million doses of the vaccine from Glaxo Smith-Kline and import the remaining two million after they weigh the reaction of the those vulnerable groups to the vaccine. On Sunday, 478,000 doses of the swine flu vaccine arrived at the Cairo International Airport as part of the campaign to vaccinate pregnant women. Officials from the Ministry of Health and Glaxo were present to receive the delivery.
