Ukraine flu response 'over the top': expert
Last Updated: Friday, November 6, 2009 | 4:55 PM ET
CBC News
Wearing a mask to curb possible transmission of flu, taxi driver Andrei Melnichuk feeds pigeons in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Wednesday. The European Union says it is co-ordinating with health experts in Ukraine to help manage a suspected swine flu outbreak. (Sergei Grits/Associated Press)Countries like Ukraine have gone too far in responding to the H1N1 pandemic, a European flu specialist said Friday.
Ukraine has reported 95 deaths from acute respiratory illness, but the strain has not been confirmed as H1N1.
In most people, H1N1 infection results in mild illness.
"The mildness is good in some ways, but it has also given the disease control people some problems," said Angus Nicoll, influenza co-ordinator at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
"Then you get a Ukraine thing, where some countries have suddenly been ambushed by the pandemic and have gone over the top in their response," he added in a briefing with reporters in Stockholm.
On Monday, the Ukrainian government closed schools, shut down parliament for a week and banned public gatherings including election rallies, and restricted travel after confirming its first H1N1 death.
Nicoll said the country is likely six weeks into its outbreak, but it wasn't officially noticed until young people started getting ill and going to hospital.
"It is clear that the pandemic [H1N1] 2009 has established itself in Ukraine and it is likely that the rapidly evolving situation in Ukraine is mainly related to the pandemic," the European Centre for Disease Control said in an update Friday, adding that other causes for clusters of respiratory illness cannot be ruled out.
Analysts have suggested that rival Ukrainian leaders may be trying to exploit fears of the outbreak ahead of the country's presidential election on Jan. 17.
Nichol called it a "very complicated political situation," and commended the Ukrainian government for "sensible" measures such as reinforcing hygiene, importing antivirals and closing schools.
In response to an urgent plea from the Ukrainian government, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the Canada Ukraine Foundation called for donations of medical supplies such as antibiotics, sanitizers, masks, syringes, ventilators and basic medical products to assist sick and critically ill Ukrainians.
Intense flu spread in North America
In its weekly pandemic update, the World Health Organization said Friday that H1N1 is on the rise in China and Japan.
The virus triggered an unusually early start to flu season in Europe, Central Asia and North America. Since the spring, at least 6,071 people worldwide have died as a result of H1N1, the UN health agency said.
"Intense and persistent influenza transmission continues to be reported in North America without evidence of a peak in activity," the WHO said in its latest update. "In China, after an earlier wave of mixed influenza activity [seasonal H3N2 and pandemic H1N1], pandemic H1N1 influenza activity now predominates and is increasing."
In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that swine flu is widespread in 48 states.
Since the virus was first identified in April, 129 children in the U.S. have died of complications from H1N1.
Most people infected suffered mild illness. The total number of deaths in the U.S. is estimated to be above 1,000.
On Friday, the Public Health Agency of Canada also reported a "considerable increase" in flu activity last week, with over 700 influenza outbreaks reported in almost all provinces and territories, mostly in schools. Of the specimens tested, 99.7 per cent were positive for the pandemic H1N1 2009 strain.
U.S. vaccine lineups
About a third of American adults who have tried to get a H1N1 vaccine have been able to get it, including those with underlying medical conditions, according to a national poll by the Harvard School of Public Health.
Vaccines against H1N1 have been available in the U.S. for about one month. Health officials have focused on inoculating those at high risk of complications as manufacturing delays have hampered vaccine supplies.
The survey of 1,000 adults was conducted last weekend and the results were released Friday. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
Separately, WHO noted some pigs, turkeys and pets have been infected with H1N1 but the virus does not appear to be spreading quickly among animals.
The virus has been detected in some mink farms in Denmark. It seems to have infected the animals and not farm workers.
The Geneva-based UN health agency recommends monitoring farm workers for signs of respiratory illness, given that "the potential exists for novel influenza viruses to be generated in animals other than swine."
