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World Jewish News
Tel Aviv couple hospitalized over suspected swine flu
01.05.2009
An Israeli couple was admitted to Tel Aviv's Icihilov Hospital on Friday following a suspicion that the two had contracted swine flu.
The 27-year-old woman and 34-year-old man were placed in isolation after recently returning from a trip to Mexico.
The hospital stated that both man and woman were in good condition.
Ealier Friday Health Ministry announced that two Israelis suspected of contracting swine flu were tested negative for the disease.
Both a woman, 75, and a nine-year-old girl were quarantined in hospital until their conditions could be verified. Two other Israelis have tested positive for swine flu since the global outbreak emerged, and were released from hospital upon treatment.
Meanwhile, a 26-year-old Haifa woman who recently came into contact with someone who had visited Mexico is undergoing tests to see if she has contracted the disease.
In light of the global swine flu epidemic, the Israel Police had announced that it will work to keep roads open to enable sick people to get to the hospital if there is a wide-scale outbreak in this country.
The police decision was made during its first situation assessment to discuss its role in an outbreak.
The Health Ministry has already raised the alert level to five, which is the second-highest on the scale. It issued a new set of recommendations to the public in an effort to contain swine flu and prevent its spread in Israel.
Authorities on Thursday issued new recommendations to the public in a bid to contain the virus.
Israel will also tighten its border examinations of nationals and tourists entering from Mexico or who have recently visited the country, senior health officials decided on Thursday following another set of emergency consultations in the prime minister's bureau.
Anyone landing in the country from Mexico will be required to undergo tests at a clinic that has been set up at Ben Gurion Airport.
The police also said they would be responsible for providing medical treatment, in coordination with the Health Ministry, for any detainees who might be diagnosed with swine flu.
In addition, police cars are expected to escort trucks carrying anti-flu drugs from ministry warehouses to medication distribution areas.
Police districts were ordered to prepare plans to split the areas under their jurisdiction into smaller regions that could be isolated during an outbreak and to map out ways for medical personnel to reach those areas.
Police are also preparing for the possibility of riots at potential drug-distribution areas. The police also decided that any police officers who get swine flu should be taken off duty until they recover so they don't infect colleagues.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned senior officials on Thursday for discussions on the possibility of a swine flu outbreak in Israel. The officials also resolved to maintain responsibility for flu prevention efforts in the hands of the Health Ministry.
Earlier, senior officials had mulled assigning the Defense Ministry's national emergency authority with the task rather than the Health Ministry.
Dr. Yehuda Carmeli, head of epidemiology and preventive medicine at Tel Aviv's Ichilov Medical Center, told Haaretz that the risk of swine flu is significantly lower in Israel than in Mexico. Due to the preventive steps that have been taken here, he said, a massive outbreak is unlikely in Israel unless there is a worldwide pandemic.
"We still cannot say with certainty whether we have overcome the disease," said Dr. Itamar Grotto, the Health Ministry's head of Public Health Services. "But fortunately, the threat of local transmission has been negated."
The ministry will begin disseminating information about the disease on Thursday. It is advising Israelis to take precautions to avoid contracting the virus and has urged the public to be vigilant and maintain personal hygiene. The ministry has also asked anyone who has been in contact with infected individuals to avoid crowds.
The ministry has published a list of symptoms that could indicate swine flu, including fever, cold, sore throat, muscle soreness and shortness of breath. Anyone arriving from Mexico in the past seven days who has one of these symptoms should be examined.
More than 1,000 callers contact Health Ministry hotline
Meanwhile, some 1,000 callers contacted the Health Ministry's swine flu hotline on Thursday, which was staffed by ministry officials responding to questions on how to treat the disease, what to do if someone is suspected of having been infected and whether to travel abroad.
Some of the calls were from other ministry officials and doctors, for whom a separate information center has since been set up.
A woman who returned from Mexico on April 17 was one of the callers. She asked about flu-like symptoms she said she had developed, but added that she had already recovered and wanted to know if there was anything she should do.
The incident is being studied and added to a registry of people who have been in Mexico in recent weeks and have recovered from any symptoms.
U.S. authorities also contacted the Health Ministry yesterday to learn more details about the two Israelis confirmed to have been infected with swine flu after visits to Mexico.
They wanted to know where in Mexico the two had been staying, in an effort to map the spread of the disease.
The hotline will also be operating today, between 7 A.M. and 2 P.M., and Sunday between 7 A.M. and 7 P.M. The hotline number is 03-695-1541 or *3090 from a Bezeq phone line.
Israeli team heads to India to examine swine flu drugs
A Health Ministry delegation will head to India on Sunday to examine the quality of generic alternatives to Tamiflu, an antiviral drug being stockpiled around the world to treat swine flu.
If the conditions are suitable, Israel could end up spending tens of millions of shekels on the generics - at 50 percent to 75 percent less than the cost of Tamiflu.
But though the ministry is considering making a deal with Indian drugmakers, it cannot legally go through with the deal at the moment.
An Israeli court has issued an injunction preventing such purchases in response to a 2008 suit brought by the maker of Tamiflu, Switzerland's Roche, which wants to stop tender proceedings for generic alternatives.
Roche said yesterday that decision makers should look at Tamiflu's quality and availability rather than its price.
The government decided yesterday to buy enough drugs to combat the disease - both Tamiflu, taken in pill form, and Relenza, an inhalant - to supply 30 percent of the population, which goes beyond the World Health Organization recommendation that governments should have enough medication to treat about a quarter of their population.
Israel already has 11.5 million units of Tamiflu, enough to treat about 17 percent of the population. If the delegation to India finds that the Tamiflu alternatives are being manufactured at high quality and will be ready soon - and if given the legal okay - Israel could end up purchasing 5 million to 10 million units.
By Ronny Linder-Ganz, Jonathan Lis and Ran Reznick, Haaretz Correspondents
Источник: Haaretz
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