Balearics acted “correctly” over swine flu, says health report

PALMA
THE response of Balearic Health authorities to the threat of the spread of swine flu a year ago, was “appropriate” and “probably minimised” the effects of the virus, public health chief Margalida Buades claimed yesterday.

Buades said that contrary to claims being made on the first anniversary of the outbreak of the AH1N1 pandemic in Mexico, that the Balearics “overreacted” to the threat, the stringent measures introduced by the regional Health ministry to cope with widespread contagion were likely to have helped contain the worst of the ravages of swine flu. “Society has benefited from the results of the prevention programme,” said Buades. “It was a combination of factors including the public alert that was raised over the pandemic, first and second rounds of measures taken to contain the spread, and the success of the vaccination programme.

She admitted though that the swine flu has proved less virulent than expected. “But the rapid response to the threat,” Buades said, “meant that the number of people who were eventually infected was kept relatively low.” She added that the response to the outbreak should be seen in the light of the swine flu being a “completely unknown” factor and that there was uncertainty of whether the virus would “mutate” into a more devastating disease.