Romania declares flu epidemic as 18 people die

The Health Ministry has declared a flu epidemic in the country, taking into account the high number of flu cases and respiratory infections over the past week, Digi24.ro reported.

Eighteen people died because of the flu, the National Center for the Supervision and Control of Transmissible Diseases of the Public Health Institute said on February 6.

The last two people to die because of the flu are an 18-month child from Neamţ county and a 49-year-old woman from Mureş county. They were both infected with the A type virus, the (H1)pdm09 subtype. Both had preexisting medical conditions and had not received the flu vaccine.

Over 7,000 flu cases are currently reported in the country, double compared to the previous week (3,645) and the similar period of last year.

Furthermore, over 171,000 respiratory infections have been reported, 23,000 more than the previous week.

The health authorities have said the additional vaccine doses will reach family doctors next week, allowing those who did not yet get the vaccine to be able to do so.

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