Threat of swine flu break-out emerges in Finland

The influenza situation in southwest Finland is worrying, and the swine flu seems to be the dominant virus, said an infection doctor of the Turku University Hospital of Finland.

Esa Rintala, senior physician at the infection control unit of the Turku University, told Finnish national broadcaster Yle on Friday that a total of 24 influenza patients had visited the hospital since the epidemic in southwestern Finland started about two weeks ago.

Two of the patients have died, according to Rintala.

The physician did not explicitly say the two people died of swine flu, but he explained that they had been in good health and had not taken vaccinations. "Swine influenza typically strikes basically the healthy and can cause them to become seriously infected," Rintala was quoted as saying.

Yle also reported on Friday that the cancer department of Helsinki University Hospital had been shut down as symptoms of swine flu were detected among patients and staff earlier on Monday.

According to Veli-Jukka Anttila, an infectious disease doctor at the Helsinki University Hospital, lab results showed that 10 cancer patients were infected by either influenza A or swine flu.

The clear reason for the spread of the influenza virus was the old-fashioned spaces in the hospital, where rooms, toilets and shower facilities were shared by patients.

Niina Ikonen, senior researcher at the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare, told the Finnish daily Iltalehti that the flu epidemic was already well underway throughout Finland, and the dominant virus currently seemed to be influenza A.

At the turn of the year, swine flu started to spread in many places of the world. Deaths related to swine flu have been reported in Ukraine, Russia, Armenia and Georgia.