VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVL #0679 3451452
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111452Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY VILNIUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3979
INFO RUEHCP/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN PRIORITY 2058
RUEHRA/AMEMBASSY RIGA PRIORITY 3690
RUEHTL/AMEMBASSY TALLINN PRIORITY
RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW PRIORITY 3830

UNCLAS VILNIUS 000679 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EMBASSY WARSAW FOR REGIONAL MEDICAL OFFICER 
EMBASSY COPENHAGEN FOR REGIONAL ESTH OFFICER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KFLU TBIO PREL LH
SUBJECT: FLU PANDEMIC ABATING IN LITHUANIA 
 
REF: VILNIUS 630 
 
¶1.  The wave of flu and flu-like illnesses in Lithuania is 
receding.  In the first week of December, infection rates 
were at 104 cases per 10,000 people, a decrease of 40 percent 
from the 175 cases per 10,000 people reported a week earlier. 
 As of December 11, the GOL had attributed nine deaths to 
H1N1 flu.  At the peak, flu had reached epidemic levels in 57 
of Lithuania's 60 municipalities, but three of those 57 areas 
declared this week that they had dropped below epidemic 
levels again. 
 
¶2.  Since November 17, according to the National Public 
Health Center, 4,295 persons have been hospitalized for flu 
or respiratory illnesses, with 301 of those placed in 
intensive care.  As of December 11, about 5 percent of 
Lithuania's 1,443 schools were closed because of high 
absenteeism, primarily attributed to flu.  At the nadir in 
late November, less than two-thirds of the country's schools 
remained open.  The American International School of Vilnius, 
which is attended by many Embassy dependents, did not have to 
close because of flu and has seen its absence rates drop back 
to normal levels. 
 
¶3.  Lithuanian print and broadcast media continue to run 
public-service announcements telling people how to minimize 
the risk of contracting flu.  Media also continue to report 
on the epidemic, but the tone of the coverage has grown 
calmer as fears have abated that the pandemic would be more 
deadly. 
 
¶4.  On December 2 the GOL released about 50,000 packages of 
antiviral drugs to supplement those that the Ministry of 
Health had already released to hospitals from its own 
reserves.  The government also allocated 4.5 million LTL 
(nearly 2 million USD) to the Health Ministry to replenish 
its stocks of antiviral medicines. 
LEADER