Kyiv, December 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) - The number of those who have died from influenza and associated illnesses during the current autumn-winter season in Ukraine has increased to 615 as of late on December 25, the Ukrainian Health Ministry has reported.
Eighteen people, including one pregnant woman, have died of the flu and its complications (pneumonia) over the past 24 hours, the ministry said. Four people of these deaths were in Donetsk province.
The ministry says an epidemic threshold currently exists in 20 out of the Ukraine’s 24 provinces, as well as in Kyiv and Sevastopol. A relatively favorable influenza situation is being observed only in Ivano-Frankivsk province.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, says the ministry, some 3.5 million people have contracted influenza and respiratory infections, including 68,000 over the past 24 hours.
A total of 193,518 people have been hospitalized since the start of the epidemic (October 29). Of those hospitalized, 157,575 people have been discharged from hospitals.
The ministry publishes no separate statistics on cases of A/H1N1 influenza (swine flue).
