Latest on Ukraine H1N1

 

The latest:

 

189 Deaths Reported in Ukraine - Belarus to 223K Cases
Recombinomics Commentary 21:32
November 10, 2009

1,122,188 Influenza/ARI

57,286 Hospitalized

189 Deaths             

The above numbers are from the latest report from Ukraine.  Numbers in all categories continue to rise,  The two locations with the biggest increases were Kiev (8062 to 76,285) and Kiev Oblast (6,522 to 56,688).  These increases indicate the H1N1 is spreading east and the high numbers in the Kiev region may be associated with the jump of cases in the Gomel region in Belarus, with 48,754 cases in influenza/ARI (see map). Belarus also reported 8 fatal pneumonia cases fro the region, and larger numbers of fatalities had been reported earlier for Minsk.  For the entire country, Belarus reported 223,349 cases, further supporting the H1N1 spread in the region.

Although the number of fatalities in Belarus is increasing, and may rival Ukraine, samples were sent to Mill Hill from Ukraine at the beginning of the month, and an announcement of sequencing data has been delayed.

The steady increases of H1N1 cases and hemorrhagic pneumonia deaths in Ukraine, as well as similar numbers reported for Belarus, increase concerns about the sequencing delays.

The sequences should be made public immediately. 

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(See my previous post. )

Continuing on,

Our church has a mission family in the Ukraine. They live in Kherson. Here is an excerpt from their latest blog:

 

"When we came back from Kiev, we hit the ground running and haven't slowed down since. Jamie went back to his responsibilities at church, the kids started new school year, and Agatha keeps me busy. The break came last weekend with the Ukraine shutting down for 3 weeks because of the swine flu. Schools are closed, universities are closed, daycare centers were open (so parents can go to work), but now some have closed since there was no heat (we had freezing temperatures at night for a few days last week). Our kids don't have gymnastics, dance, art class for the three weeks. We keep doing school at home, of course."

Imagine if we shut down the U.S. for three weeks! This is a really nasty strain of H1N1. It is spreading like wildfire and I hope it does not make it to the U.S.  Stay tuned..............