ECDC official praises Cyprus’ plan to address new flu pandemic

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Acting Director – ECDC Chief Scientist Johan Giesecke has said that Cyprus has a very good plan to address the new flu (H1N1) pandemic, noting that the way this plan is implemented seems to be thoughtful and worked through.
In statements during a press conference after a meeting he had with Cyprus Health Minister Christos Patsalides, Giesecke said there is no question that there is a pandemic “of a relatively mild disease” which is spreading around the globe. He refrained from giving any figures for Europe, noting that most member states are not reporting any number of cases any longer.
“So the figures that are given for the EU are wrong, there are much more cases than the figures are showing and it’s not that interests any longer,” he added, noting that Spain and the UK are clearly the worst hit EU countries. “But it will spread to the other countries,” he said.
Asked when the new vaccine for the flu will be ready and how effective it will be, Giesecke said “what the producers are telling us is that end of September is when the vaccine will be ready. How safe it is, is being evaluated now by the companies, he added.
He said that the ECDC is involved in two huge Pan-European projects, one on the efficiency and one on the side effects from the vaccine.
Asked how sensible is to proceed with the vaccination given the concerns that the virus might mutate, he said it is true that the virus could mutate, “but we have not seen any signs yet. Even if it does mutate, the vaccine would probably maintain some of its protectiveness,” he added.
Asked whether in his opinion schools should remain closed in September or not, Gisecke said the picture from the US is that teenagers will meet anyway even if they do not go to school. “It is easy to say close schools but when you start thinking about it, things get complicated,” he added.
On his part, Patsalides said that they exchanged views on the issue of the new flu and thanked the ECDC official for the guidelines and the coordination offered by the Centre that contributed to efforts made with a view to address cases of the new virus.
Senior Medical Officer Olga Kalakouta said that new cases are still recorded in the same pace as in the last days, adding that there has been no fatal incident so far in Cyprus.
Giesecke also had meetings with the Committee that handles issues concerning H1N1 flu and the Minister of Finance, during which he was briefed about the Health Ministry’s action plan to address the new flu.