Health ministry: influenza epidemic breaks out in Belarus
Influenza epidemic has swept across Belarus. A range of anti-influenza measures were introduced in Molodechno on February 15 and in Gomel on February 17, chief epidemiologist of the Belarusian health ministry Anatoliy Kozhemyakin told BelTA.
Throughout last week health care agencies were reporting that cases of influenza and those of cold diseases were surpassing the epidemic threshold in most of 18 benchmark towns. However, to announce the outbreak of the influenza epidemic, it is necessary that cases of this disease should be above the epidemic threshold in a town three or four days in a row.
It will be possible to make a prognosis related to the situation with influenza in Belarus and to spot other towns the epidemic might spread across for the epidemic announcement will be possible after calculation of the patients to date. Usually, on Mondays and Fridays comparing with other weekdays, the number of visits to doctors increases.
In case of an influenza outbreak it is prohibited to visit hospital patients and conduct mass events. If the number of sick students in a school surpasses one third of their total number, such a school suspends its classes.
