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Finnish Defense Forces said Friday that a person has been diagnosed with A/H1N1 flu at the Armored Brigade base in Parola, marking the country's first flu case of the autumn season.

The Defense Forces said that the patient had not been inoculated with the influenza vaccine, adding that five others were exhibiting symptoms linked to A/H1N1 flu.

The military said it would monitor the situation at other bases.

Thedi Ziegler of the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare said Finland has found several suspected cases of A/H1N1 flu but they have not been yet confirmed.

Ziegler said the A/H1N1 flu virus found this year has mutated a little from the virus that spread last season.

Published: 12/08/2010 16:15

Swine flu is rife in at least two of the garrison.

Swine influenza appears to have spread to the garrison in Rovaniemi, says the Defence Forces.

The Defence Forces are told that in Rovaniemi, a few patients with symptoms likely to be swine flu.

Parola Armoured Brigade, the confirmed outbreaks of the disease is seven. In addition, nearly 200 servicemen suffering from typical symptoms of swine flu.
The first outbreak was confirmed Armoured Brigade in late November.

08.12.2010 21:56
The Finnish Defense Forces said in a statement on Wednesday that a further six A/H1N1 flu cases had been confirmed at the Armored Brigade base in Parola in southern Finland, Xinhua reported.

Finland's first A/H1N1 flu case in the new flu season was confirmed at the base late November, when several other people were exhibiting symptoms linked to the disease.

The military said that six of them have been confirmed to be infected with A/H1N1 virus, adding that more than 250 conscripts had sought treatment over the past two days. About half of them showed typical A/H1N1 flu symptoms, such as high fever, muscle aches and pains, sore throat and headache.

Maria Virkki, an epidemiologist of Finnish Defense Forces, said that most of these patients have been probably infected with A/ H1N1 flu although just seven cases have been confirmed up to now.

According to the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland's confirmed cases of A/H1N1 flu from May 2009 to March 2010 totaled 7669, 44 of which were fatal cases.

Swine flu is spreading through garrison at Parola Armoured Brigade
National servicemen in Rovaniemi also suspected of having contracted H1N1

Swine flu is back on the Finnish map, and has surfaced first - as so often in these cases - within conscripts in the army.
The infection has taken over the Parola Armoured Brigade.
According to the Finnish Defence Forces, there are currently seven confirmed cases of the illness caused by the H1N1 virus, while just fewer than 200 other national servicemen are suffering from symptoms of swine flu.
Swine flu also seems to have spread to a garrison in Rovaniemi.
The Defence Forces epidemiologist Maria Virkki explains that in Rovaniemi there are a couple of patients who, based on their symptoms, are thought likely to have contracted the H1N1 virus.
According to Virkki, the conscripts are suffering from headaches, high temperature, and muscle pain.

In Parola, the garrison’s infirmary is unable to accommodate all the servicemen with swine flu symptoms.
Instead, most of them are recuperating in their own barracks.
So far no cancellations of holiday leave have been planned because of the illness.
According to laboratory director Thedi Ziegler from the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), it is quite possible that the disease will spread outside the garrisons.
“Of course it is possible, if such an epidemic develops in the garrisons towards the end of the week and the coughing conscripts then go home for the weekend.”

In Ziegler’s view, young adults in particular were somewhat lazy last year when it came to getting vaccinated against the H1N1 strain.
In any case the influenza season is about to begin, and according to Ziegler at least those in risk groups would benefit from taking the vaccine as quickly as possible.
“Basically this is the last chance saloon. It takes a couple weeks for the immunisation to take effect.”
Within the Parola Armoured Brigade, the first swine flu case was confirmed towards the end of November.

Updated review of influenza
Updated 09.12.2010

This page contains a summary of influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, the situation on current data. Pandemic Katsausta updated as necessary.


Infection status
•Finland has secured a total of 7669 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) in 2009-virus infection during the period from May 10, 2009 to March 8, 2010.

•08/03/2010 After the register is an infectious disease reported 22 influenza A positive finding (9 antigeeninosoitusta, 4 antibody discovery and 9, PCR detection), 18 of which had occurred since September.

•This season's first epidemic of swine influenza virus discovery, influenza A (H1N1) in 2009, was Parola garrison 23.11.2010 on the sample. During the 49 weeks of the garrison became ill a couple of hundred (14%), flu-like disease in conscripts. Swine influenza is a discovery of seven servicemen. Apparently, none of them had not received any pig or a seasonal influenza vaccine.

•The intensity of the next flu season can not predict. Influenza A (H1N1) infections in 2009 is likely to appear quite small children and other infection-prone groups. Countries where the pandemic and seasonal influenza vaccine coverage is high, the influenza infection is likely to be less.



◦Cases annually, and each week (Table)

◦Secured A (H1N1) cases per 10 000 inhabitants (see map)

◦Communicable Disease Registry reported influenza A (H1N1) cases on a weekly basis (Figure)
◦Are hospitalized for influenza A (H1N1) cases in Finland (table, follow-up ended on 12.23.1909)

◦Tested for influenza A (H1N1) samples in Finland (table)

◦Weekly viral findings in the THL Influenza Laboratory website
◦Laboratoriovarmennetut pandemic influenza A infections in 2009 (map animation, the Finnish Cancer Registry)

Deaths
•Finland has been 44 influenza A (H1N1) infection-related deaths (median age 56 years, range 1-88) of whom four were children, 26 men and 40 had a known underlying disease. Three persons killed, including one child, had received a swine flu vaccine and 27 did not, by paragraph 14 of the data was missing.

Vaccination Status
•Seasonal flu vaccinations have been started in November

•THL recommends vaccination Pandemrix suspension (08/24/1910), cf. Bull

Influenza outbreaks in Finland. H1N1 virus in two days, "put" nearly 200 soldiers.

In the clinic Tank Brigade near the town of Hämeenlinna continue to be infected. In the seven confirmed H1N1 diagnosis.

Soldier planned not to fire from the armed forces, despite the end the contract. According to the statement of Professor Ilkka Yulkkinen, this measure will help curb the spread of the epidemic.

Yulkkinen: "The ban on dismissal may only slow the spread of the disease, but avoiding it completely is unlikely to succeed."

In the Baltic states also recorded the activity of influenza H1N1. On Thursday it became known that the virus has been detected in Estonia.

On the same day the losers joined Lithuania. There also appeared an infectious patient.

Recall that in October the media started writing about the next mutation of the virus H1N1. A new type of influenza (H3N2) has spread in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Several people have died.