Adam Niedzielski made the assessment in a tweet on Tuesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The health minister wrote: “In the last nine days of December, we saw a slight easing of the flu epidemic.”
He added: “On average, there were 43,200 cases and suspected cases per day, which is 2 percent more than in the previous week, but the school break meant fewer infections among children up to 14 years of age.”
389,000 flu cases in late December, cases fall among children
Deputy Health Minister Waldemar Kraska told reporters that the number of flu infections in the last nine days of December totalled 389,000.
“This means that the incidence of flu cases has risen slightly, from 111 per 100,000 inhabitants to 113 per 100,000 inhabitants, but the good news is that the number of infections among Poland’s youngest citizens has dropped,” he said.
"This is especially true of flu, but also the RSV virus," he added.
Speaking after a meeting of a health ministry task force on the flu epidemic, Kraska said the government was "monitoring the supply of anti-flu medicines at wholesalers and pharmacies on an ongoing basis.”
He told reporters that medicines for children were available “practically everywhere,” adding that new, free-of-charge virus tests should be supplied to health clinics “by early next week,” the PAP news agency reported.
714,000 Poles jabbed against flu
Kraska urged the public to vaccinate themselves against the flu.
He told state broadcaster TVP in an interview that 714,000 people nationwide had taken the flu vaccine this season.
"This is really a very low figure," he said, adding that the vaccine “has been used for years and is totally safe.”
He also said that "although the jab doesn’t give 100-percent protection from the infection, it guards against serious complications, such as myocarditis.”
Flu vaccination rules to be simplified
Kraska told TVP that the government would "ask MPs to approve a simplification of the vaccination procedure" at the next session of the Sejm, the Polish lower house.
Under the proposed changes, members of the public would be able to take the flu vaccine at pharmacies without first having to obtain a prescription from the family doctor, he said.
Vaccination against the flu is subject to a fee in Poland, with the exception of people aged over 75 and pregnant women, who get the jab free of charge, the PAP news agency reported.
Meanwhile, children and teens between six months and 18 years of age, people aged 18 to 65 who are at higher risk of flu complications, and those aged 65 to 75, pay half the price, according to officials.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, wgospodarce.pl