H1N1 UPDATE: 21,129 CONFIRMED CASES

UNCLAS BERLIN 001236 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 GM SUBJECT: H1N1 UPDATE: 21,129 CONFIRMED CASES REF: A) Berlin 1201, B) Berlin 1163 and previous. ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The number of confirmed H1N1 infections in Germany rose by 481 cases to a total of 21,129 on October 2. RKI and ECDC have confirmed the first H1N1 death in Germany. Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced that the H1N1 vaccine will be delivered to Germany in the coming week; however, the majority of Germans are reluctant to get vaccinated. END SUMMARY ¶2. (U) At its October 2 press briefing, the National Reference Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) confirmed a total of 481 new (laboratory and non- laboratory) H1N1 cases in Germany over yesterday, increasing the total number of H1N1 cases to 21,129. New cases were distributed among thirteen of the sixteen federal states as follows: Bavaria (203),North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) (71), Hesse (57),Brandenburg (32),Berlin (25),Schleswig-Holstein (21),Baden-Wuerttemberg (16),Thuringia (16),Hamburg (11), Lower-Saxony (10),Rhineland-Palatinate (7),Saxony (7) and Saxony-Anhalt (5). ¶3. (U) The number of new confirmed cases that have resulted from domestic transmission has increased over the past few weeks and is now 75 percent. RKI announced on October 2 that it will no longer make the distinction in its reporting between new cases attributed to people returning from travel abroad or domestic transmission. New cases include non- laboratory H1N1 cases that exhibited symptoms after being in contact with a laboratory-confirmed infected person. ¶4. (U) NRW remains the German state with the highest number of confirmed virus cases with a total of 5,879, followed by Baden-Wuerttemberg (3,148 cases) and Bavaria (3,030). H1N1 Vaccine Soon to be Delivered -------------- ¶5. (U) Following the EU Commission approval of the H1N1 vaccine for Europe on September 30, a speaker from Dresden- based pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) confirmed today that the new vaccine will be delivered to Germany in the coming week. The German government has ordered 50 million doses from GSK. GSK began producing the new vaccine "Pandemrix" in late June to avoid delivery shortages in the fall. (Note: The EU has approved the vaccine "Focetria" produced by Norvatis and GSK's Pandemrix. End Note). Fewer Germans Interested in H1N1 Vaccination -------------- --- ¶6. (U) An opinion poll conducted by the market research institute Forsa on September 30 shows that the majority of Germans are still reluctant to receive the H1N1 vaccination. Germany ordered vaccine for 30 percent of its population, butonly 21 percent of the 500 Germans polled said they would get the H1N1 vaccination. People over 60 years of age as well as those from the East (27%) were more in favor of getting the vaccination. First German H1N1 Death Confirmed -------------- ¶5. (U) The European Center for Disease Control(ECDC) and RKI confirmed on October 2 the first German H1N1 death. As reported in REF A, the woman from Gelsenkirchen died on September 25. Final tests have now shown that the H1N1 virus was the main factor in her death. MURPHY