Flu epidemic grips Lithuania

VILNIUS - The bug that wracked Latvia has moved southward and is leaving Lithuania with thousands stricken and municipal decrees warning people not to mingle in crowds.

In 25 out of 52 of Lithuania's regions, a flu epidemic (100 per 10,000 persons stricken) has been declared. All Lithuania's largest cities are now well above epidemic levels, except Klaipeda. The worst hit towns are Moletai with 300 out of 10,000 afflicted, and Visaginas, which clocked at just under 300 per 10,000. In Vilnius, declared an epidemic zone on Feb. 1, the level was 200 out of 10,000.

The Vilnius public health center reported that particular hotbeds of the flu were in families and schools. The epidemic has caused two deaths in Lithuania, including that of a child. However, the public health center reports, those deaths should be attributed to complications resulting from the flu, not the flu itself.

This epidemic is similar to last year's visit by the winter bug, which didn't reach Vilnius. Dalia Rokaite, an epidemiologist with the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Center, said this year's flu bug could be worse than last year's, because its incidence has been increasing.

"Every year we ask people get vaccinations, and now, unfortunately, it is too late for vaccination," Rokaite said. "We ask people to try not to have contact with patients who are ill with influenza, and not to go to crowded places and to follow hygienic practices at home."

Ina Cebotariova, head of the health care department for Vilnius municipality, put a damper on some of the hysteria created by local papers that compared this epidemic with its Latvian counterpart that killed several.

"It's not a very big epidemic, not yet," she said.

While it is generally advised to avoid the dreaded polyclinics during declared epidemics, the decree requires that polyclinics and other public places, such as public transport vehicles, are regularly cleaned and disinfected.

Medical workers are being asked to work longer hours, and there is an increased number of staff on call for house calls.

"The public can visit polyclinics, but if it's not necessary, just try to avoid it," Cebotariova said. "If you have a fever or other flu symptoms it's always better to call a doctor to the home, and of course it's possible to call ambulance. But sometimes it's necessary to wait a little bit longer."

Birstono Mineraliniai Vandenys, Lithuania's only producer of vitamin-C enriched water, has benefitted from the call to take vitamin C. In January, BMV more than doubled its sales, to 23,400 liters. Crediting the flu epidemic, the company has increased production of its tonic by 80 percent.