RAMALLAH – A Palestinian official Saturday said that nine Palestinians have died of swine flu in the West Bank since the start of this winter. As'ad Al-Ramlawi, Director-General of the Healthcare Department of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said that the nine were suffering from with chronic respiratory diseases or from immune deficiency. Al-Ramlawi said that 187 people have been diagnosed with swine flu in various West Bank cities. He said that most of the cases were discharged from Palestinian hospitals after they received proper treatment. He predicted that “50 percent of the Palestinian population to contract the virus over the winter.” The official said that his ministry will launch a massive awareness campaign about swine flu in cooperation with the Palestinian Education Ministry. Symptoms of swine flu include a fever, cough, headache, weakness and fatigue, aching muscles and joints, sore throat and a runny nose. Hundreds of Palestinians were diagnosed with the swine since the first case was discovered in June 2009. Last year, twelve Palestinians died of the virus. Swine flu also called H1N1 flu, swine influenza, hog flu, is an infection caused by any one of the several types of swine influenza virus like H1N1, H1N2, H3N1, H3N2, and H2N3.
