ANKARA
At least 11 people have died from swine flu in Turkey since 2014, but there is no question of an epidemic, Turkey’s Health Ministry official said Tuesday.
“We have collected a total of 3,117 samples from patients, out of which 170 were cases of H1N1, known as the swine flu,” The Undersecretary of Ministry of Health, Eyup Gumus, said at a press conference. He, however, said that there was no outbreak of swine flu in the country.
Also, apart from the 11 death, five other people also died from different types of influenza virus since 2014, Gumus said. Nine of the victims were under the age of 45, while two others were older, he added.
According to Gumus’s statement, the cases were mainly detected in Turkey's southern provinces of Antalya and Mersin, northwestern provinces of Bursa, Canakkale and Kocaeli, central Sivas, as well as northern Samsun.
On Monday, a man died in Mersin after he checked into the state hospital after complaining of a heart problem. After medical examinations, public and local health officials found out that he had the H1N1 virus. According to Gumus, the infected person also had other health issues.
The official also said that the ministry’s scientific committee on March 5 ruled out a swine flu outbreak in the country and predicted that the flu season would be over by the end of March. Public hospitals have been provided with antiviral drugs to deal with various strains of the virus, which will be available to patients free of cost, Gumus said.
He said that there was an increase in the number of sick people since the beginning of 2015 because of seasonal cold and similar increase in cases were noticed in previous years as well. “These are all seasonal flu viruses that are witnessed every year all over the world,” he added.
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