2009 swine flu pandemic in Ukraine
[4][5] The overwhelming majority of patients experience mild symptoms,[4] but some persons are at higher risk of suffering more serious effects; such as those with asthma, diabetes,[6][7] obesity, heart disease, or those who are pregnant or have a weakened immune system.
[8] In the rare severe cases, around 3–5 days after symptoms manifest, the sufferer's condition declines quickly, often to the point respiratory failure.
[13] According to Ukrainian Justice Minister Mykola Onischuk the epidemiological situation during October–December 2009 didn't change the overall death rate in Ukraine.
[19] Radio Netherlands Worldwide mentioned (on November 4) that rumors had spread about a plane said to have been flown over the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, releasing powder containing a mutated variety of the A (H1N1) virus.
[23] Due to the outbreak public meetings, including cinema,[24] were forbidden nationwide and all educational institutions were closed for three weeks (subject to extension if necessary).
[25][26] Conscription into the Ukrainian army was also suspended,[27] A large shipment of Tamiflu was delivered from Switzerland to Ukraine on November 1, 2009, for distribution among hospitals for free.
[29] On November 2, 2009, at Ukraine's request, the WHO sent a team of nine experts to determine if the same strain of swine flu was responsible for the 70 recent deaths from acute respiratory illness in the country.
[36] Since there had been 174 additional deaths from acute respiratory viral infections [37] and other patients had recovered, though this number is less than the total hospitalizations related to flu and flu-like illnesses.
[43] By December 7, 2009, more than two million people had fallen ill since Ukraine's flu epidemic began, with 88 patients in intensive care at the time.
[50] On January 23, Ukrainian health officials reported that they expected a second surge of flu and respiratory infections to strike early in February 2010.
[51] The number of those who had died of flu and flu-like illnesses in Ukraine increased to 940 people on January 12, 2010, with the epidemic threshold exceeded in Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, Poltava, Sumy regions and Crimea; according to the Ukrainian Health Ministry.
[58] According to a poll carried out by the Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine in November 2009 Ukrainian citizens had mainly negative feelings about measures being taken by the government to fight the flu epidemic.
[61][62] According to a poll by Research & Branding Group the majority of Ukrainians thought that the epidemic of flu would not affect the presidential elections.
[67] On 13 November 2009, the WHO announced that, based on data collected from 43 European countries, Ukraine had the 8th highest infection rate of A/H1N1 in Europe (following Norway, Sweden, Bulgaria, Moldova, Iceland, Ireland and Russia).
Furthermore, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Poland, various regions of Russia, Northern Ireland, Turkey, Finland, and Ukraine had a high sickness rate of А/Н1N1 flu.
