Influenza levels in Bulgaria decrease as inoculations in Greece begin

The number of new people infected by the H1N1 strain is decreasing daily and the "situation in the country is stabilising", Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported on November 18 2009.
Schools reopened for classes across Bulgaria on November 16, and two of the regions that kept the "holiday" going for an additional day, the Municipality of Bourgas and the town of Silistra, will follow suit on November 18.
Haskovo and Dimitrovgrad, however, did not open their schools on November 17 and reportedly will keep them shut until November 19.
Meanwhile, a mass inoculation programme started in Greece on November 17. Major hospitals in Athens and across Greece reported an influx of people wished to be vaccinated.
"The vaccine constitutes an important weapon and shield for public health in the face of the new flu pandemic," Greek health minister Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou was quoted as saying by the Greek Kathimerini.
In spite of the inoculation programme, reports say that the Greek population still remains largely pessimistic and dismissive of the importance of the vaccine, deeming it unnecessary altogether. More than 60 per cent of the population say they will not bother, either because they do not perceive the strain as a major threat or because of health concerns associated with the jab itself.
Priority in Greece will be given to health workers, mothers, children, the elderly and those with chronic ailments, on what have been designated as phase one and phase two of the inoculation programme. Subsequently, on December 1, the third phase of the administration of the vaccine will begin, aimed at people aged 18 to 49, followed by the final phase on December 7 with the inoculation of children aged up to 17 and those over the age of 50, Kathimerini said.
In Bulgaria, anti-viral vaccines worth 12 million leva are due to arrive at the start of January 2010, by which point the first wave of the epidemic would have passed through the country, experts say. Bulgaria has asked the European Union to urgently allocate 200 000 Tamiflu and Relenza doses, with Austra responding with a delivery of 1440 Tamiflu doses, which were delivered in Sofia on November 13 2009.

1,440 Tamiflu dozes donated by Austria arrive in Bulgaria

Austria sent a humanitarian aid of 1,440 Tamiflu dozes to Bulgaria to cope with the flu epidemic in the country, the press office of the Interior Ministry announced.
The donation is provided within the Community Mechanism for Civil Protection.
The Tamiflu delivery arrived at Sofia Airport on Friday and was handed to the National Medical Coordination Center with the Ministry of Healthcare.

Pharmacies are facing heavy fines for improper sale of anti-viral drugs

Bulgaria intends to launch a nationwide surveillance operation, tasked to determine if pharmacies are equipped with anti-viral drugs, and if, in particular, they are equipped with Tamiflu and Relenza, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported on November 10 2009.
More importantly, investigators are to ensure that pharmacists sell Tamiflu and Relenza only with medical prescriptions, the report said.
Fines for illegitimate sales of anti-viral drugs varied between 1000 and 3000 leva. According to the medical authorities, "the aim of the operation was to prevent self-administered medical treatment" as drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza should be consumed only with specific medical advise, BNT said.
"The administration of such drugs, without it being necessary, could inadvertently cause the H1N1 strain to build resistance against these drugs" a statement from the Health Ministry said.
The average rate of infection in the country had reached 265 per 10 000 and there were now reportedly over 175 000 people sick with the H1N1 strain or swine flu. Two more people succumbed to the strain on November 9, aged 15 and 52.
Meanwhile across the border, Greek medical authorities were presented with a different problem related to the strain. The mass inoculation programme aimed to tackle the H1N1 onslaught was met with stiff resistance from the local population, Greek daily Kathimerini reported on November 10 2009.
According to a poll conducted by Kathimerini, nearly 60 per cent of those interviewed, dismissed the jab as unnecessary and did not intend to proceed with the inoculation at all.
Over 70 per cent said that they were not afraid of physical contact with people in the street, while 80 per cent were not bothered to even consider wearing facial protection in crowded areas. Half those interviewed said they frequent pubs and nightclubs as much as they had done prior to the influenza outbreak.
Finally, "just over half of Greeks felt that the measures taken by the government to combat or treat the virus were adequate" Kathimerini said.
Greek health minister Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou announced on November 9 2009 that the inoculation programme would commence on November 16.

Venezuela slows Amazon Indian swine flu outbreak

A potentially devastating outbreak of swine flu among the Yanomami Indians in Venezuela's Amazon rainforest appears to be contained after a rapid medical response in the isolated zone.
Considered to be the largest isolated Amazon tribe, with a population of about 30,000, the semi-nomadic Yanomami had limited contact with the outside world until 50 years ago.
Since the 1960s, the Yanomami population has been hard hit by illnesses brought by gold miners and other outsiders.
The deaths of six Yanomami are being investigated for possible links to the H1N1 virus. But Neris Villalobos, chief epidemiologist for the state of Amazonas, said the initial outbreak peaked at the end of October and was waning.
Possibly spread by outsiders at a government-organized event last month, flu symptoms showed up in more than 1,000 Yanomami, local health officials said. The number of new cases has declined sharply since then.
"The action taken has been successful, although we cannot yet say that the situation is over," Villalobos told Reuters in Puerto Ayacucho, capital of the local Amazonas region.
She said medics still needed to visit far-flung villages to check for any possible undetected cases of the disease. Medics have given Swiss drug maker Roche's (ROG.VX) flu drug Tamiflu to more than 2,000 villagers in the tribal area, accessible only by river or air.
Socialist President Hugo Chavez's government in recent years has expanded health services to the Yanomami. About 30 doctors are now permanently stationed on the Venezuelan side of the Yanomami region, which straddles the Brazilian border and is about as large as Greece.
Many are Cubans who form part of Chavez's popular nationwide drive to put doctors in remote communities.
During the outbreak, Cuban-trained Venezuelan doctors were flown in to bolster care. "If they had not taken the measures in a timely fashion, this would have been a truly enormous epidemic," said Cuban doctor Giovanni Castellano.
Illegal gold mining in the region, especially on the Brazilian side of the border, spread disease such as malaria among the tribe in the 1980s and caused the deaths of about 20 percent of the population in a seven-year period.
Tribe members typically live in circular communal huts built around a courtyard. The men hunt for food and the women plant dozens of different crops in clearings. Every few years they move to new forest areas to let land regenerate.
The H1N1 virus appears to have entered the Yanomami's rainforest home during a meeting organized by government officials to mark the Oct. 12 anniversary of the arrival in the Americas of explorer Christopher Columbus, medics said.

150 000 Bulgarians Infected with Swine Flu

Bulgaria's Chief Epidemiologist, Dr. Angel Kunchev, has reported that 150 000 people are currently ill from the A(H1N1) virus – swine flu – in Bulgaria.
Dr. Kunchev stated that there are regions of the country where 400 out of every 10 000 people have the virus. He gave Yambol, Gabrovo, Pleven and Varna as examples of areas where the situation has reached this level.
Dr. Kunchev advised patients that if "Relenza" and "Tamiflu" can’t be found in pharmacies to turn to the local hospital, where it should be given out for free.
A 52-year-old man and a 15-year-old teenager were reported to have died of swine flu Monday in Petrich and Kavarna respectively.
Bulgaria declared a swine flu epidemic on Friday, November 6. All schools in the country are currently on a flu break that started Monday.