| Serbia declares swine flu epidemic |
| 11 November 2009 | 11:26 -> 13:43
| Source:
B92 |
BELGRADE --
Health Minister Tomica Milosavljević has announced that a swine flu epidemic has been declared in Serbia.
The decision came at the recommendation of the government working group set up to monitor the spread of the AH1N1 virus.
Milosavljević told a news conference at the government headquarters in Belgrade on Wednesday that a ban on public gatherings, including in schools and preschools in the whole country or some areas can be imposed, but that this would happen "according to the appraisal of the health institutions with jurisdiction in the matter".
For the time being, he explained, no such blanket ban has been introduced.
The epidemic will be official once today's decision has been published in the Official Gazette, Milosavljević said, and added that one of the measures will be to vaccinate the population against the virus, with chronic patients and children older than six months set to be inoculated first.
There is every condition to declare a swine flu epidemic in Serbia, Branislav Tiodorović, a member of the group, said earlier in the day.
“Based on the evaluation of the epidemic situation and evaluation of its development in the next few months, there are reasons to declare an epidemic. Considering the fact that we have 258 confirmed cases of swine flu and that the number will surely increase in the future period, that more than 350 people are in hospitals, that we have had seven fatal outcomes so far, and that there are all conditions and risk factors for an epidemic to spread in all parts of Serbia, there are absolutely all conditions to declare an epidemic,” the working group's Branislav Tiodorović said.
The working group has also been drafting a set of measures that will be forwarded to the Institute of Public Health of Serbia Dr. Milan Jovanović Batut.
Tiodorović explained for B92 that those measures include vaccination of the population, but that not all schools and preschools would be closed and that public gatherings, concerts, theater and movie shows would not be cancelled at this stage, when the epidemic is described as being "only a mild wave".
“When the first pandemic wave strikes, likely after the New Year, we will have more sick people and then some of the measures may be introduced on a state level,” he said.
Tiodorović added he was hoping that the vaccination could start at the beginning of December.
Regarding speculations about the side effects of the anti-virus vaccine, Assistant Minister of Health Ružica Nikolić said that the vaccine was “just like any other medicine”.
“The vaccine is just like any other medicine which has confirmed indicative area with a part called 'side effects', and it is no different than other medications,” she said.
Nikolić added that the vaccine had been given to 40 million worldwide people so far, "without any side effects".
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