Surgical masks can now be seen in public places in Vilnius as people attempt to prevent the spread of the disease. However, Lithuanian health officials warn that the mask is more useful for those already infected with A/N1H1 to prevent transmission than for the uninfected seeking to protect themselves.
VILNIUS — A total of 177 schools are closed throughout Lithuania today as the Ministry of Health has declared 17 municipalities swine flu epidemic areas.
The schools are closed on a voluntary basis. If a pandemic is declared, which would occur if the majority of municipalities in the country are declared epidemic areas, the government has the right the shut down the schools by mandate. There are 60 municipalities in the country.
“If the municipalities announce that an epidemiological situation is in the area, they have their own plan to manage those things in schools and public events and so on,” Ieve Paulauskienė, adviser to the Minister of Health, told Baltic Reports.
Pandemic seems likely
Paulauskienė said Lithuania is moving toward a pandemic state — the number of epidemic areas has more than tripled in two days. Meanwhile the virus has claimed one life. When asked if there was a possibility that the government would come in and shut down its schools, she said, “Yes. We’ll see.”
The areas that are now declared epidemic areas are Anykščiai, Utena, Marijampolė, Ukmergė, Alytus, Vilnius, Kėdainiai, Jonava, Kaišiadorys, Širvintos, Kaunas municipality, Kaunas regional district, Švenčionys, Klaipėda regional district, Molėtai, Trakai, and Ignalina. Two municipalities that are under review are Prienai and Elektrėnai.
Surgical masks a common sight
Because of increasing worry over the epidemic, some businesses have required their workers to wear face masks. People wearing surgical masks are now a common sight in public areas.
However, Giedrė Maksimaitytė, head of public relations at the Ministry of Health, cautioned against the efficacy of wearing them.
“It’s recommended to those who feel sick, not to those who are afraid,” Maksimaitytė told Baltic Reports.
“Of course it helps for some time, two or three hours, but it’s not a panacea,” Paulauskiene said. “If you are ill, you can do that to protect other people.”
Number of cases is unknown
Meanwhile Lithuania’s Center for Communicable Diseases and AIDS is reporting only 265 laboratory-confirmed cases of swine flu, but that’s because they’ve ceased testing for anyone not hospitalized for the flu.
“The World Health Organization recommends that Lithuania doesn’t make laboratory confirmation for all people,” Rasa Liausėdienė, the center’s deputy director told Baltic Reports. “For A/H1N1 only hospitalized people are being tested from Nov. 12.”
Anti-flu medication can be purchased in pharmacies throughout the country.
Its not surprising that this has spread so fast – one of the things I noticed quickly when I went to Lithuania was that they never cover their mouths when sneezing or coughing – its so disgusting!
Maybe they already forgot about the plague…
Yesterday evening I went to my local Iki store, the one in Karoliniskes near Spaudos rumai, in case management is listening.
The lady at the ready-made foods counter was ill, coughing all over the place, coughing into her hands, and not bothering to wear disposable gloves.
I’m not struck with flu panic, but I’m sorry, that’s just unacceptable.
According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, flu deaths in the developed world from 1992 through 2006 averaged 8500 per million population per year. If that number is accurate for Lithuania, one could predict 390 – 400 flu related deaths annually. If the current death rate from flu related causes does not exceed about 40/month the “scare” may be exaggerated.
Dear Spinoneone,
Thanks for choosing Baltic Reports as your news source about the Baltic states.
Those numbers are true, but you’re not taking into account demographics. Nine out of 10 of those “regular” flu deaths are people who were over 65 that were already suffering from other serious health problems, and their bodies couldn’t handle the flu like a healthy person could.
This “swine flu” variant of the virus is different and is causing the deaths of people who were previously healthy, something the “regular” flu rarely does in the developed world for anyone that has received proper medical treatment.
As for the accuracy of your numerical breakdown of annual deaths Lithuania should expect from influenza, if depends on the definition of the “developed world.” Lithuania is developing economy, not a developed one by most measures, and appears as such on the UN’s Human Development Index. Lithuania is not included on the IMF’s advanced economies list, high-income OECD members list or the World Bank high-income economies list, all considered thresholds of a “developed” economy.
I’m not sure how many deaths it takes for this epidemic to be considered not exaggerated, but given the amount of fatal cases so far it’s difficult to dismiss the danger the “swine flu” virus would pose were swift action by governments around the world not taken to quell its outbreak.
Certainly the media is prone to over-hype things sometimes, but I believe swine flu warrants the attention.
Regards,
Nathan Greenhalgh
Editor
Baltic Reports