Big wave of swine flu expected in Serbia

BELGRADE, Dec 30 (Tanjug) - Epidemiologist and a member of the working group set up to monitor the spreading of the swine flu in Serbia Veljko Djerkovic said Wednesday that a big wave of the new virus A (H1N1) is expected for the beginning of 2010, and pointed out that medical institutions are trying to mitigate the effects of the virus with a quick vaccination.

In an interview for the Radio and Television of Serbia, Djerkovic said that new 120,000 vaccines will be distributed on Wednesday, adding that at the beginning of January Serbia will have another 600,000 to 800,000 vaccine dozes. He underlined that the fact that around 71,600 people have received the vaccine is a great success.

Announcing the possibility of prohibiting public meetings and implementing rigorous measures in case the number of fatal cases rapidly increases, he reminded that 633 people infected with the new flu have been admitted to hospital in a bad health condition and that 52 of the cases were fatal.