Flu pandemic

Health authorities in Greece have called on citizens to be particularly scrupulous with personal hygiene amid a spike in the number of flu cases which has led to five deaths this season, with another 10 people in intensive-care units.

Health authorities in Greece are on standby for a sharp rise in the number of flu cases, believing that the current cold snap following a mild winter has created the ideal conditions for the virus to spread.

Bulgaria ranks last among European countries in terms of the implementation of preventive measures against the flu, especially the use of the seasonal flu vaccine.

Doctors recommend vaccination particularly to the elderly, people suffering from diabetes, heart diseases and chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and bronchitis.

Trial opens in swine flu vaccines fraud case

BELGRADE -- Svetlana Vukajlović Popržen has denied charges of having embezzled millions of dinars of state budget funds in a procurement of swine flu vaccines in 2009.

She is a former director of the Serbian Institute for Health Insurance.

The number of people who have died from the flu since the beginning of the year rose to 111 on Wednesday, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KEELPNO).

Greece has experienced more deaths from flu than any other European country this year apart from Spain, whose population is more than four times larger, according to the latest figures measuring the virus’s impact.

The number of people in Greece who have died after contracting flu this winter rose to 110 on Monday.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KEELPNO) said that another 46 people are receiving hospital treatment.

The number of flu-related deaths in Greece exceeded 100 on Wednesday, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KEELPNO), which has been monitoring the spike in the number of cases of the virulent H1N1 strain this year.

The influenza-related death toll in Greece reached 94 on Monday, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KEELPNO), which has been closely observing a spike in the number of cases of the virulent H1N1 strain this year.

Eighty people have died of flu-related illnesses between the start of the influenza season in October and Friday, raising concerns about the prevalence of the virulent H1N1 strain in Greece this year.