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A Bucharest primary school teacher has contracted a severe form of the flu, while in Iasi, 30 people were admitted to the hospital with infection suspicion. The teacher from School no. 147 was the first to actually present a severe form of infection. The woman is currently under treatment at Matei Bals Institute in the Capital, after spending 48 hours in ICU. According to medics in the institute, her evolution is still uncertain and there is a definite risk that 30 percent of the people she came in contact with could be infected.
The State Secretary in the Health Ministry, Adrian Streinu Cercel on Wednesday said the woman is under mechanical ventilation but she was not intubated. He added her case was contracted locally. 24 of the people who came in contact with the woman were epidemiologically tested but there was no form of the virus yet.
The teacher’s class was dismissed and all children were sent home and are currently kept under family physician observation. Sources from the Matei Bals Institute say that in case of the children, diagnostic can only be made after 48 more hours.
Later in the day, it turned out that four people, two pupils and two of the school teachers had respiratory problems, following Public Health Office triage. They were all sent to Matei Bals Institute for tests.
Another severe form of the AH1N1 flu was reported in Cluj, where a Cluj National Opera baritone was diagnosed on Wednesday morning. Soloist Gheorge Mogosan is currently in ICU, his condition is serious but stable, according to Cluj hospital’s medics. State Secretary Adrian Streinu-Cercel said the man is under mechanical ventilation as well, and his condition is also due to an associated disease. Also, all members of the medical crew that came in contact with the patient are under close medical scrutiny.
Sources from the hospital say the man has recently returned from a tour in Spain and was initially admitted at the emergency section of the Clinical Hospital in Cluj, with a chronic lung condition he had been suffering of, before. As his condition worsened, he was transferred to County Hospital ICU.
Iasi severely hit
Over the last 36 hours the city of Iasi was severely hit, when 30 people, most of them of young age were admitted in hospital under AH1N1 suspicion. Medics say these are zero degree contacts from already confirmed patients. The hospital’s administrator, Carmen Dorobat said for Mediafax: “These are students from School no. 15 where we already have a pest hole, as well as relatives and friends of the infected patients. They are all isolated in the hospital and kept under observation. There was no need for epidemiological testing in these cases. Also we are expecting more people to be infected,’ Dorobat said. 20 of the newly admitted patients are from School no. 15, one is the institute’s caretaker and two are students who were doing residential courses in the institution. Another patient is a 15 year old girl from Gheorghe Asachi College in Iasi. According to hospital staff, all of the infected people are under treatment and are stable. Classes were suspended for seven days, with all the students being under their family physician’s observation. Last week in Iasi the first local infection with AH1N1 was observed, a student from the Gheorghe Asachi College.
Pandemic evolution to reach peak in February next year
State Secretary Streinu Cercel on Wednesday also said Romania has entered a second phase of the virus development, which is much more dangerous. ‘From now on, we are counting on more local cases as opposed to imported one, manifesting in big cities, such as Iasi and Bucharest,’ he said. Later during a press conference he recommended everyone who feels down with any kind of influenza to remain at home and isolate from larger communities. Epidemiologists say four million people can get infected with the virus during the pandemic; they also fixed a peak for the flu development in February – April 2010.
‘We we are estimating four million infected, but we are not much worried, as we are prepared with vaccins and anti-virals. On a first stage we are prepared to produce five million shots by the end of the year, and Cantacuzino Institute will be then producing one million doses per month all along the pandemic,’ doctor Geza Molnar, state secretary in the Health Ministry said, quoted by Adevarul daily. During the vaccination campaign which is set to start on December 1st, Health Ministry will administer the shot to three million children. For pre-school and students, vaccination is free, as well as for the medical and defense system employees. The vaccine will be found only in hospitals. Also, children in schools will be administered the shot only with their parents’ approval, while pregnant women upon request. Doctor Geza Molnar also said; “The vaccine cannot be bought in drugstores, only in the hospitals. Cantacuzino Institute can only produce that much, and we have limited offers from other producers. But, according to the pandemic evolution we can work out some re-distributions.” In Romania, the first person to be infected in May this year, was a young woman returning from an USA trip. Up to 30 per cent of the European Union population could be affected by swine flu in the months to come, EU Health commissioner Androulla Vassiliou warns, quoted by France Presse.
“Unfortunately, we expect for a significant number of deaths. We fear that the virus will evolve and become more aggressive in the months to come,” Vassiliou claims. People need to remain watchful and “not neglect” the socio-economical effects brought by AH1N1, the European commissioner added. She asked the population to get the swine flue vaccine, so that the disease would spread less. At the moment, the swine flue epidemic is far from reaching its climax in Europe. Specialists say this is also due to favorable weather conditions.
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