Swine Flu Peak to Last Several Weeks
Image: Arja Lento / YLE
The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) estimates that the peak period of the H1N1 epidemic in the most heavily populated parts of Finland will continue for at least one to three more weeks.
The agency says that the epidemic is now in its peak phase in the Uusimaa area, including Helsinki, which is home to about a quarter of the nation's population.
The THL estimates that more than 100,000 people in Finland have fallen ill with the flu strain. However it says that up to seven times that number could catch it altogether -- or roughly one out of eight people in the country.
Next week, Finnish vaccine experts convene to decide whether the entire population should be inoculated at the pace that vaccine doses arrive in Finland.
Twelve deaths so far
So far, 12 deaths in Finland have been attributed to swine flu. The most recent fatalities occurred in the provinces of Lapland, Uusimaa and South Savo.
On Wednesday, a 39-year-old woman died of the virus in Lapland, while a 72-year-old man succumbed to the disease in Uusimaa. On Friday, doctors confirmed that the H1N1 virus played a role in the death of a 37-year-old man in South Savo last Saturday.
”All three victims had suffered from chronic illnesses,” said Markku Kuusi, a senior medical officer at THL.
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