*Four Israelis die after flu shot*

 From correspondents in Jerusalem

October 23, 2006 07:53am
Article from: Reuters

ISRAEL suspended flu vaccinations nationwide today after four men who
had been inoculated died in the past week.

"I ordered to stop the vaccinations until things are made clear,"
Israeli Health Minister Yaacov Edri told reporters.

"We have started to investigate everything related to this case," he said.

The ministry said it had asked the French firm Aventis, which
manufactured the vaccine, to conduct its own investigation.

Three of the four men who died had been vaccinated at the same medical
centre and injected from the same vaccine pool. One died hours after
receiving the vaccination on Thursday.

Three died from cardiac arrest and the immediate cause of death of the
fourth is unknown. Hospital officials said they were aged 52 to 76 and
had suffered from ailments including diabetes and heart disease.

People aged 65 or older or those with severe heart conditions are at
high risk from complications from influenza, which kills hundreds of
thousands of people worldwide each year, and are usually encouraged to
be vaccinated against it.

Mr Edri said more than 140,000 people had been vaccinated for the flu
virus in Israel this year. The risk of death from such a vaccine, which
contains an inactivated virus, is small.