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| THE DANGER OF A PANDEMIC 04/05/09 |
| (2009-05-04) |
| Last updated: 2009-05-05 14:13 EET |
Recently, Margaret Chan, head of the World Health Organisation, launched a warning: “Even if the level of mortality of the H1N1 strain of the flu virus seems to stabilise in the world, a second wave could hit with unprecedented virulence.”
This comes against the background of an ongoing level 5 alert caused by the swine flu, only one level below the maximum. Having broken out in Mexico, where it made 20 victims, the epidemic spread to many countries, including European states, afflicting mainly young people. Health experts from the US, the second worst affected country, do not rule out the possibility of the disease spreading all over the country, considering that the disease has been identified in half the states already.
In Europe, most cases of infection have been detected in Spain. In Romania no cases have emerged, and people coming from the affected areas have turned out negative tests. The Romanian authorities, however, remain on alert, and say that they can cope with the disease, if it showed up in the country. Here is Health Minister Ion Bazac:
“Right now, the Health Ministry can treat 460,000 people with anti-viral medication. It is an updated, buffer stock that suffices for the time being, and we can purchase more anti-viral drugs if necessary. We should not rely solely on anti-viral imports. Romania has the capacity, with its Institute for Transmittable Diseases, to produce the vaccine in three months, at the most, when the strain is isolated internationally”.
The authorities in Bucharest have decided to monitor closely all international airports. According to the director of the National Transmittable Disease Institute, Adrian Streinu Cercel, airports need to be closely watched, because, considering the fact that the A1N1 virus has a short life span, only seven days, fast means of transportation are the most dangerous. World Health Organisation experts, however, fear possible mutations, which could render the virus resistant to anti-viral medication.
However, the general director of the World Health Organisation viral division, Alan Hay, said that the virus is not as deadly as it first may have seemed, since statistics indicate a similar lethality to that of the common flu so far, standing at around 550,000 people every year.
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