5,000 vaccines against pandemic flu to arrive in Moldova

A number of 5,000 vaccines against pandemic influenza are to get to Moldova later today. The medical employees will be the first to be immunized as they are permanently in contact with infected persons. The pregnant women will be vaccinated afterword. The effect of the vaccine can be noticed only in 21 days, the head of the Municipal Preventive Medicine Center Iurie Panzaru said at the meeting of the antiepidemic commission on Thursday, Info-Prim Neo reports. Iurie Panzaru said the 14,500 vaccines against seasonal flu have been used to immunize 11,200 persons. 2,500 vaccines will be allocated to orphanages. “The number of acute viral infections has decreased during the last two weeks, but the number of cases of pneumonia increases because the people do not duly contact the doctor,” Panzaru said. According to him, deviations were identified at 638 institutions where there were carried out sanitary inspections. The Center's head also said that the population does not realize the gravity of pandemic flu and that they can develop complications is they do not consult the doctor at the expected time. Cases of infection have been recorded in 30 medical institutions, 46 kindergartens, 93 schools and 13 universities. Panzaru said over 600,000 cases of pandemic influenza have been confirmed by laboratory tests worldwide. 7,826 persons have died. The over 150,000 cases confirmed in the European region resulted in 656 deaths.