It said five people, including a 5-year-old child, died yesterday, bringing the number of swine flu deaths to 15. The 10th death was a suspicious case, but doctors from Erciyes University’s Gevhernesibe Hospital confirmed yesterday that it was in fact caused by the H1N1 virus.
The patient, identified only as A.Ö. returned to Kayseri late last month from Antalya, where he was employed. His brother-in-law, Fehmi Ö., told reporters that the 37-year-old swine flu victim was the father of three. Fehmi Ö. and A.Ö., who briefly worked at construction sites in Konya in October, went to Antalya for a paint job on Oct. 24. A.Ö. fell ill during this time and the family took him to the Antalya State Hospital.
Speaking to news agencies and reporters yesterday, he said: “The Antalya hospital diagnosed him with pneumonia. We felt the hospital staff did not take care of him properly, so we took him to two private doctors. When they made the same diagnosis, we returned to the village on Oct. 29. He got the shots prescribed by the Antalya hospital at the Bakırdağ Health Clinic, but when he failed to get better, doctors there recommended we take him to the Develi State Hospital, from where he was transferred to the Erciyes University hospital.
He was admitted but died four or five hours later.” The Erciyes hospital has since announced that a blood sample from the patient tested positive for H1N1.
The shot, to get it or not
Meanwhile, doctors made statements encouraging vaccinations yesterday. Dr. Güler Yaylı from the department of infectious diseases of Süleyman Demirel University’s (SDÜ) school of medicine said individuals who fall within higher risk groups should get the swine flu vaccine. “The swine flu has the shape of any seasonal flu. I think this vaccination should be gotten just as we get flu shots in order to not catch it. There is a pandemic here. This vaccination was developed to stop it.”
Yaylı said there were short-term side effects of the vaccine, from a short-lived fever to listlessness, but experiencing them is better than dealing with swine flu itself. “You will experience these if you get the shot, but if you catch the swine flu then you risk death, even if [the risk of catching] it is 1 percent. This is no different than any other vaccine; all vaccines have side effects. With that mentality then, we should not get any other vaccinations,” he said.
Yaylı said she had herself gotten the shot to encourage people. “This vaccination is listed as a preventive measure. Of course, those who do not want to vaccinated do not have to, but if we want protection from the disease, it is more logical to get the shot.”
Mersin University’s department of infectious diseases head Ali Kaya also spoke to the press yesterday, saying the swine flu vaccine was essentially no different than the regular flu vaccine, except for the fact that it has to be given twice, with a month in between the two shots. However, he said he did not encourage people who are not at risk to get the shot. He said the swine flu was too popular in the media, noting that he believes this is the reason behind why the issue has been exaggerated.
Meanwhile, two individuals in Aksaray province were diagnosed with H1N1 influenza yesterday.
Furthermore, panic caused by the virus has caused kolonya -- traditional Turkish cologne -- sales to soar, kolonya producers have said. Hasan Baykan, the owner of a kolonya manufacturer based in Konya, said his company’s sales have gone up by more than 100 percent.
However, İbrahim Eryaman of Selçuk University school of medicine advised people to not use kolonya, saying it is not effective against microorganisms. “Kolonya only provides mechanical cleaning; it won’t work against the virus. It would be better to wash hands with a water-detergent mix instead of kolonya.”
Benzer Haberler 
National
