H1N1 UPDATE: 12,120 CONFIRMED CASES

UNCLAS BERLIN 001007 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: 12,120 CONFIRMED CASES REF: A) Berlin 1001, B) Berlin 997 and previous. ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The number of confirmed H1N1 infections in Germany increased by 627 new cases, bringing the total as of August 17 to 12,120. The majority of new infections occurred abroad. The German government plans to order enough vaccine for 80 percent of its population. END SUMMARY ¶2. (U) At its August 17 press briefing, the National Reference Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) confirmed a total of 627 new (laboratory and non-laboratory) H1N1 cases in Germany over the week end. This increases the total number of H1N1 cases to 12,120. New cases were distributed among fifteen federal states: Baden-Wuerttemberg (196),North Rhine-Westphalia (162),Rhineland-Palatinate (71),Bavaria (46),Lower-Saxony (45),Hesse (29),Berlin (11),Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (9),Saarland (8),Brandenburg (24),Saxony (7),Thuringia (7),Hamburg (5),Saxony-Anhalt (4) and Bremen (3). ¶3. (U) According to RKI, 482 of the 627 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 4,246, followed by Lower-Saxony (2,065) and Baden-Wuerttemberg (1,379 cases). About 23 percent (2,746) of all confirmed infections in Germany have resulted from domestic transmission. H1N1 Vaccine for Eighty Percent of the Population -------------- ¶5. (U) The German Government announced plans to increase the stockpile of antiviral medication and now plans to obtain enough vaccine to immunize 80 percent of the population, up from its prior plan to immunize approximately one-third of the German population. According to the media, an inoculation rate of over 80 percent is necessary to stop the spread of the virus. Germans, however, tend to be vaccine-adverse. Media reports indicate that fewer than 80 percent are likely to get immunized against the new virus. (Note: Only 22 percent of the population in Germany follow the annual recommendation and gets vaccinated against seasonal influenza.) However, if the inoculation rate is less than 80 percent, the Government could sell excess serum abroad, according to media reports. ¶6. (U) In order to produce enough "Pandenrix", the new H1N1 antiviral medication, Dresden-based pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) plans to hire an additional 150 workers. GSK currently employs 700 workers. The production of Pandenrix began in July. GSK will produce over 300 million vaccine doses by fall and will be sent to Europe and parts of Asia. BRADTKE