H1N1 UPDATE: 11,493 CONFIRMED CASES

UNCLAS BERLIN 001001 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/CE PETER SCHROEDER STATE FOR OES/IHB STATE FOR AID/GH/HIDN USDA PASS TO APHIS HHS PASS TO CDC HHS FOR OGHA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO KFLU ECON PREL SOCI CASC EAGR MX GM SUBJECT: H1N1 UPDATE: 11,493 CONFIRMED CASES REF: A) Berlin 997, B) Berlin 989 and previous. ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The number of confirmed H1N1 infections in Germany increased by 390 new cases, bringing the total as of August 14 to 11,493. The majority of new infections occurred abroad. A dispute between the government and the health insurance companies over flu shot payments has been resolved. END SUMMARY ¶2. (U) At its August 14 press briefing, the National Reference Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) confirmed a total of 390 new (laboratory and non-laboratory) H1N1 cases in Germany over yesterday. This increases the total number of H1N1 cases to 11,493. New cases were distributed among the federal states: Bavaria (119),North Rhine-Westphalia (69),Baden-Wuerttemberg (102),Hamburg (27), Hesse (21),Saxony-Anhalt (14) Saarland (13),Brandenburg (11),Saxony (6),Berlin (5),Lower-Saxony (2) and Bremen (1) ¶3. (U) According to RKI, 293 of the 390 new cases are attributed to people returning from travel abroad. New cases include also non-laboratory H1N1 cases from people who exhibited symptoms after being in contact with a laboratory confirmed infected person. So far, all new cases are reportedly mild. ¶4. (U) North Rhine-Westphalia remains the German state with the highest number of confirmed virus cases with a total of 4,084, followed by Lower-Saxony (2,020) and Baden-Wuerttemberg (1,183 cases). About 23 percent (2,601) of all confirmed infections in Germany have resulted from domestic transmission. Dispute over flu shot payments resolved -------------- ¶5. (U) A local debate between the federal government and health insurance companies over who would bear the costs of H1N1 vaccinations this fall has been resolved. In an agreement, a total of approximately 700 million euros would be used for the procurement of 50 million doses of the vaccine, a number to inoculate approximately a third of the German population. In a meeting between Health Minister Ulla Schmidt (SPD) and insurance providers on August 13 in Berlin, parties agreed that the insurance providers would pay for half of the vaccination costs and the federal government would pay for the other half. The insurance companies welcomed the agreement, saying that this would help avoid an increase in monthly premiums for consumers. BRADTKE