Minister of Health, Dr. Saad Jaber, and the State Minister for Media Affairs Amjad Al-Adayleh have held a press conference today to talk about the latest developments related to H1N1 "Swine Flu".

During the conference, which was held at the Prime Ministry's building, Minister Jaber confirmed that the number of H1N1 "Swine Flu" cases that have been registered in the Kingdom is normal, confirming that the situation is reassuring.

He pointed out that 199 people are infected with the flu, while five people have died of the flu so far.

He stressed in this regard that the number of cases is not higher than the cases registered in the previous years, noting that 580 cases were registered in 2015 and 560 in 2016.

The Health Minister said that Swine Flu is a seasonal flu that has been endemic in the Middle East and in many European countries and is dealt with in all these countries using the same protocols used to address usual winter season flu.

He pointed out that H1N1 incidence usually peaks at the end of December of each year before it starts to subside gradually, assuring that the situation is under control.

Furthermore, Jaber said the ministry has distributed the medication used to the disease, which is an effective medication and is given only to any proven case and is not given as a precaution for normal flu cases.

The minister added that some reported fatalities are not related to "Swine Flu", but rather to patients suffering from immunodeficiency, which is usually severe among children and the elderly, whether acquired immunity deficiency or as a result of certain treatments.