Two children die of swine flu

Two children have died of swine flu in Nijmegen, the local health board said on Tuesday. The children were aged four and 11, and the fact they both lived in the same city is a coincidence, the health board said.


National infectious disease council RIVM said there is no reason for panic, despite the resurgence of the disease, which killed 63 people last winter.
The chance of being killed by flu is ‘incredibly small’, RIVM spokesman Roel Coutinho said. It is not surprising the virus has resurfanced because it has circled the world and is now returning.
‘This is what we expected,’ he told Nos television.
Season
The RIVM said said over a week ago that the flu season had begun. One in three recorded cases is swine flu (H1N1). So far this winter, 20 people have been hospitalised.
The number of cases is expected to go up now because the schools have gone back, and germs spread easily between children.
The two children who died had not been vacinated against the disease last year, Nos said.

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