Gaza woman dies of swine flu, 5 others hospitalized in Israel
Palestinians had credited Israel's blockade of the coastal territory with keeping the virus at bay.
By News Agencies Tags: swine flu Israel news GazaHealth workers in the Gaza Strip announced the first death and first cases of H1N1 swine flu on Sunday, worrying Palestinians who had said that Israel's blockade of the territory was keeping the virus at bay.
The Health Ministry and medical workers said five people diagnosed with H1N1 on Saturday were transferred to Israel for treatment and a sixth, female patient suffering underlying health problems died in the territory run by Hamas Islamists.
The ministry said the five were diagnosed with H1N1 on Saturday. Health workers said it appeared to have been kept out of Gaza until now due to restrictions that limit the flow of people as well as goods into the enclave, which is governed by Hamas.
"The illness hit Gaza," said Hassan Khalaf, deputy health minister in the Gaza administration. "We have finalized a national plan to deal with it."
Palestinians had been concerned that several thousand pilgrims who recently returned from the annual haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia might bring the virus back to Gaza with them.
Khalaf said the five patients suffered from other serious illnesses. He declined to confirm or deny reports that two of the cases had died of the disease.
With Egypt's help, Israel began restricting the flow of goods into Gaza in 2006 after Hamas won a legislative election. Hamas does not acknowledge Israel's right to exist and remains committed to armed struggle against it.
Restrictions on who could enter and leave the Gaza Strip were tightened in 2007 when Hamas seized full control of the territory.
Some medicines are in short supply, but Israel insists it does not limit shipment of medical supplies. Instead, Palestinians say the rivalry between Hamas and Abbas' Palestinian Authority could be to blame.
The Palestinian Authority is responsible for sending medicines to Gaza, but officials there way Abbas' government routinely keeps Gaza in short supply.
One key shortage is swine flu vaccine. Senior WHO official Mahmoud Daher said Gaza has only 1,000 vaccine doses for around 8,000 health employees, serving 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza.
West Bank Health Ministry official Dr. Asad Ramlawi denied that the shortage is deliberate. He said 1 million doses would be arriving between mid-December and late January, and they would be divided between the two territories.
Daher said there was no need for panic, and that patients with chronic diseases, the elderly and pregnant women should be vigilant about their hygiene.
However, at Shifa Hospital, Gaza City's largest, a reporter saw doctors and nurses refusing to go near a young woman believed to have the virus.
The young woman's family had to carry her to the isolation ward on a stretcher.
Ramlawi said 1,250 cases of swine flu have been reported in the West Bank. In Israel, the number is more than 3,000.
H1N1, which emerged in March, causes moderate symptoms in most patients but poses greater risks to pregnant women, young people and patients with underlying health problems.
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The H1N1 vaccine is not yet properly tested and unfortunately is probably the cause of more damage than good. I will not be getting this vaccination and I will not be letting my family get it either. Best we can do is to keep washing our hands often with lots of soap and water.
First, a virus cannot 'mutate' just like that. Or we would need to make a new vaccine anyway. Second, the Hamas can buy their own vaccine. There has never been a blockade on medicine and verified vital supplies as long as Hamas don't keep them for themselves. Third, Israelis are the priority of the Israeli government, aswell as Americans are this of the USA and French of France. Not Palestinians. This blocade could save the world. Imagine if somebody gets a new, mortal and truly dangerous (unlike A) virus. Viruses cannot live outside of bodies. So it's fine, we won't get it. That's why countries close their airport in case of contagion. We'd be happy of it? That's new... got any source? Reports? Of course, Do show them, and the numbers of PRODUCED vaccines. For now, only suspicious people are vaccinated anyway. A strike could happen anytime, so we stock it. And in the end, the mortality of swine flu is ridiculous: I won't even get vaccined. Next time, go learn genetics.
I talked to a reliable friend yesterday. He said he was sick for two weeks. 9 days with a fever that wouldn't go down and ached all over. Pneumonia symptoms too so I think I will get the shot.
Act quickly and intelligently, even if you will not act out of a sense of humanity. Gaza is the perfect Petri dish for brewing up a real storm of disease. Do you think that your blockade will block the disease from recrossing the border? What if it has mutated to a deadlier form by then? Whatever rejoicing many of you may do for any in Gaza that are stricken down by the disease, do you not realize that Gaza is the perfect breeding ground for what may end up, effectively, a cheap and unintentional bio-weapon that will strike you next? Israel is said to have ordered and/or produced a huge amount of the vaccine, yet according to reports, few in Israel have been vaccinated to date. Do the smart thing, send vaccine in to Gaza, before it's too late, and the disease comes raging back out against you. Or many of your own countrymen will also be stricken. And I doubt that Hamas will mourn any more than you will mourn any of their deaths.