Twenty-two more die from H1N1

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By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Yonhap) -- Twenty-two more people have died in South Korea from
the Influenza A (H1N1) virus, raising the country's total death toll from the new
flu to 104, health authorities said Wednesday.
The infection rate and number of fatalities from the pandemic were waning in the
second week of November after the death toll peaked at the end of last month,
when 24 people died between Oct. 25-31, the central disaster relief headquarters
said.
Out of the 104 who died from the new flu, 89 patients were classified as
high-risk and 15 others were not, officials said.
The number of people given prescriptions for the anti-viral drug Tamiflu stood at
48,182 in the third week of this month, down from 100,322 in the first week and
87,613 the second week, they said.
Over 400 schools nationwide enforced temporary closures in the first week of
November due to the flu outbreak. Most of the schools have resumed classes, but
17 still remained shut as of Monday, according to the relief center.
Some 2.8 million students have been inoculated so far under a government plan to
administer the H1N1 vaccine to 7.5 million students by early December, according
to the health authority.
"The inoculation procedure has been going well for students," said Kang Sung-ju,
an official at the relief headquarters.
"We expect that concerns about further spread of the disease will sharply
decrease once the vaccination for students is completed by early next month and
schools' winter vacations begin."
ejkim@yna.co.kr
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