URALS REGION GRAPPLES WITH GRIPPE

UNCLAS YEKATERINBURG 000074 SIPDIS STATE FOR OES/IHB E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SOCI KFLU WHO PGOV RS SUBJECT: URALS REGION GRAPPLES WITH GRIPPE ¶1. Summary: The H1N1 outbreak is the main topic of the week in Sverdlovsk oblast now that a new governor has been named. A flu epidemic was declared for the oblast last week. Deaths from H1N1 have been confirmed in Chelyabinsk oblast, Surgut, and Bashkortostan. School vacations in many oblasts of the Urals Federal District (URF) were extended, and health advisories to avoid public meetings and to eat properly have been issued. Pharmacies have run out of masks and supplies of cold and flu remedies are low. End summary. ¶2. On November 6, Sverdlovsk oblast public health officials declared a swine flu epidemic in six cities: Yekaterinburg, Pervouralsk, Krasnoturyinsk, Serov, Verkhnyaya Pyshma and Aramil. Doctors said that a swine flu epidemic has been present in the region for at least three weeks. Experts believe the epidemic in Sverdlovsk will last four weeks and estimate that 20 percent of the population will be infected. "We have confirmed cases unconnected with trips to foreign counties in the last two or three weeks. These are local cases. It means that the virus is spreading in Yekaterinburg," Aleksandr Kharitonov, the city's chief epidemiologist, said on November 9. Public health doctors recommend that people wear facemasks to lessen the risk of contracting or spreading the flu and Sverdlovsk towns now require that public transport workers and employees of supermarkets, shops, and cafes wear masks. The stock of masks at many pharmacies ran out almost at once. Doctors will make house calls on people complaining of fever to prevent spreading the disease at hospitals. Next week the vaccination campaign against swine flu will begin. The first to be inoculated are children between three and 17 years of age. ¶3. As of November 11, Sverdlovsk confirmed 66 cases of swine flu. Between October 1 and November 6 alone, 59 cases were confirmed. The first case in the middle Urals was recorded this summer when school children returned from trip to London. Officials say the level of acute respiratory infections this year is three times higher than the average in preceding years. Last week, 33,692 cases of acute respiratory infection were recorded, of which about half were in Yekaterinburg. About 2,000 cases of acute respiratory infection are confirmed in Yekaterinburg alone every day. Officials have announced that the best prophylactic available in Sverdlovsk is anti-flu preparations and substances that strengthen the immune system. Nutritionists stress the need to eat properly to ward off infection, starting with breakfast. The suggested diet emphasizes whole grains while cutting out fast food and sugar. ¶4. In Chelyabinsk oblast, officials have designated swine flu as A/H1N1/California/04/09. In the 24-hour period from November 11 to 12, another four people were confirmed as having H1N1. The total number of diagnosed cases in the oblast is now 128, of whom 84 are children. Six have already died. On October 30, the first death from swine flu occurred in Surgut (YNAO). The patient died two days after delivering a baby. This was the second death in the Urals Federal District of a pregnant woman. Another woman died in Chelyabinsk oblast. On November 5, a 25-year old man died of H1N1 in Ufa, ten days after falling ill. This was the sixth confirmed case in Bashkortostan. ¶5. In Kurgan oblast as of Nov. 11 there were 21 confirmed cases of swine flu and 3,248 cases of acute respiratory infection; in Perm oblast 124, of which 81 were confirmed in the last five days. Perm city became one of three Russian cities where a vaccine against H1N1 is being tested. The vaccine Inflyuvir has already passed clinical trials and been determined safe for trials on people older than 60 and children, the age groups facing higher risks from flu complications. Perm is recruiting 30 adult volunteers for the trials. Medical experts expect that within 30 days of vaccination they will be able to tell whether an individual's immune system has strengthened. The first test group will be adults. After the safety and efficacy of the vaccine have been tested on adults, the vaccine will be tested on three groups of children: one group of 12-18 year-olds, one of 7-11 year olds, and one 3-6 year olds, each group of 30 children. TRIMBLE