The swine flu not an health problem

This year the swine flu is one of the main issues discussed at the SIMG meeting, in Florence, from November 26 to 28. "The swine flu has never been an health problem for Italy, just a challenge for the health care system" has said  Claudio Cricelli, President of the Societa' Italiana di Medicina Generale (SIMG). So it's official: too much fuss over nothing. Anyway, the vaccination campaign is still on. The deaths have risen to 91, mostly young people. The incidence of the flu has decreased in Lombardia, Tuscany and Campania, while still high in other regions,as Sicily and Sardinia.

Swine flu past its peak: Week 47

The swine flu in Italy  is past its peak. According to the Iss, the incidence has decreased to 1.138%. The Marche incidence data is still the highest in the country, but it's considered not significant of the real situation in the region. So, there have been some troubles collecting datas. Abruzzo, Emilia-Romagna, Sardinia and Basilicata have also high incidence, while Campania and Lombardia are likely past the peak.

Flu peaked in Italy, maybe

As the death toll soars to 85, the swine flu is still in the news. Today the Italian Deputy Health Minister Ferruccio Fazio has said that the vaccine is still effective, even though the virus has mutated. According to Fazio, it's likely that the flu pandemic has already peaked in Italy, infecting only some milions of people. Nevertheless, it's crucial that people in the high risk group get the vaccine, said Fazio. Gianni Rezza, Director of Infectious Desease Department of Istituto superiore di sanità, has confirmed that people need to stay alert and get vaccinated (if at-risk). According to the Ministry, more than 300,000 people have got the vaccine, out of almost 4 milions of doses available.

Topo Gigio, again

Two or three weeks ago the Ministry of Health has launched a new television advertising campaign. The main character is Topo Gigio, the puppet that already featured the first ad against the swine flu. This time Topo Gigio gives a piece of advice about vaccination. It explains who should get the swine flu shot, and who the seasonal one. The result is a bit confusing. Maybe the subject is too complicated to explain all in an ad.

A mutated flu virus in Norway

At least 68 flu-related deaths have been recorded by Italian Health Ministry, a high number in this time of year. Campania's health authority has reported 25 fatal cases, and it's the hardest hit region. The hospitalized cases have climbed to 489, while 241 people needed intensive care. Italian newspapers report today about a mutated version of the influenza virus, found in three patients in Norway, and this seems the most interesting thing of today. The Italian Deputy Health Minister, Professor  Ferruccio Fazio, is still inviting all the people at risk to get the vaccine shot. Today the newspapers cover also a story about a diet agains the flu. Black grapes, bananas, oranges and cauliflower can protect you, claims Fabio Firenzuoli, President of National Association of Phytotherapist Doctors. Also peppers work, if they are in different colours.

Swine flu at its peak: Week 46

Maybe the swine flu in Italy has reached its peak. Today InfluNet, the Italian surveillance network, has released updated datas for week 46, from November 9 to November 15. The incidence is 1.253%, a bit more than last week (1.227%). In the island of Sardinia  there's still one of the lowest incidences of flu cases (0.69%). The highest rate is again in Marche region (4.197%), followed by Abruzzo (3.492%), and Emilia-Romagna (1.917%), all in central Italy.

Media: Poland refuses the flu vaccine

Today the main piece of news is about Poland that is "calm and unvaccinated." Italian online media are really interested in this story:

Despite a serious outbreak of swine flu in neighboring Ukraine, the Polish government played it cool last week. Polish Health Minister Ewa Kopacz announced that she was not planning to stock up on swine-flu vaccine until it had been properly tested.
"The A/H1N1 vaccine is being produced by three companies, none of which has been able to assess its long-term effects. Their testing lasted a relatively short amount of time. It is not known whether [the vaccine] is safe for children and pregnant women," the health minister explained at a press conference last week.

The safety of the flu vaccine, in Italy the Focetria by Novartis, is still strongly debated. The daily government's report have updated the death toll to 62.

Swine flu, at-risk groups in Italy

The New England Journal of Medicine has just published two papers about swine flu in USa, Australia and New Zealand. They discuss if specific groups of people were more involved and more likely to be hospitalized. The results say that people "with underlying medical conditions", were young, of minoritu groups have an increased risk.
There isn't any study in Italy yet, but according to the Minister of Health many deaths have occured in the Campania region. Actually, 23 out of 58 fatal cases of swine flu occured there. There's no explanation of this, maybe it's bad luck. Again, according to the official datas, almost all the people who died, 55 out of 58, were in the at-risk group. Nothing is said about foreign people. After a rough estimate of Ansa datas, it seems that 10% of all the deaths occured among them, a figure that fits in with the % of foreign population in Italy (6,5%).

Topo Gigio against the swine flu

A month ago the Minister of Health launched an advertising campaign about the swine flu. The television ad features the room of "Topo Gigio", a beloved character of very old children series. Topo Gigio explains what to do against the flu:
1. wash your hands well and often with water and soap.
2. cover your nose and mouth with tissues when you cough and sneeze, then throw the tissue away
3. if you have forgotten to wash your hands, don't touch your eyes, nose and mouth: flu virus spreads in this way
4. remember to open the window to air the house
5. if you got, a cold, difficulties in breathing, cough, headache, stay home and call the doctor.
The television ad ends with the catchline "Swine flu is a common flu. These five rules helps fighting it". The ad has received mixed reactions. Many people felt offended by the use of a children puppet.

Campania hit by swine flu

According to the Ministry of Health, the fatal cases of swine flu are 53. Fifty people were in the risk group.Very few people have been vaccinated, only 150,000 people out of 3,000,000 avalaible doses. The websites of many newspapers aren't covering the pandemic in the front page any more, apart from ilmattino.it, newspaper of Campania region, where occured 23 deaths. Meanwhile, the flu articles are in the top 20 news of GoogleNews.
The press release of the government has also announced that 40 million of antiviral drugs doses are avaiable, but this issue is not currently debated.