Romania has enough drugs in stock to treat 460,000 people against swine flu epidemic
Romanian Health Minister Ion Bazac assured today the country has enough anti-flu efficient drugs to treat 460,000 persons against the swine flu and the stocks can be increased if the need arises.
Moreover, Bazac said Romania has the capacity to produce a monthly output of seven million vaccine shots against the swine flu, with the first shots available starting with September.
Romania is thus one of the eight European countries able to produce the anti-flu vaccine, alongside France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Hungary.
“Romania has the capacity to start producing the vaccine in three months the most after the strain is isolated,” the minister explained.
Bazac stressed that no suspicion or confirmed case of swine flu infection has been reported so far in Romania and that there was no problem with the people returning from countries affected by the virus.
A stock of anti-flu drugs has already been distributed to a number of 10,000 persons in the high-exposure risk category, like medical personnel and diplomats to the affected countries.
The Health Ministry intensified the surveillance on airports and at border crossing points. It also distributed enough anti-flu medicines to cure several thousands of people to the infectious diseases hospitals in the capital and throughout the country.
The World Health Organization (WHO) raised to 5 the alert level on the pandemic potential of the new swine flu virus type A/N1H1 which is transmitted from human to human and spread in Mexico and the United States and now Europe.