Yesterday the first suspected cases of AH1N1 have been officially detected in Armenia, health officials said on Monday, urging the population not to “panic.” The employees of the Healthcare Ministry and specifically Armenia’s Hygiene and Anti-Epidemic Inspectorate officially confirmed this fact. All the three cases were detected in Zvartnots Airport: two came from Moscow and the third from Dnepropetrovsk. The latter is an Iranian citizen. Presently, the suspects are in an infectious diseases hospital. The Iranian citizen will soon be discharged as he has undergone a course of treatment. The other two are still in treatment at the Infection Hospital in Nork. Though the H1N1 vaccine is expected to arrive in Armenia at the end of November, the Deputy Health Minister says Armenia will be able to protect against the virus. According to Armenia’s Hygiene and Anti-Epidemic Inspectorate this is only a suspected case that needs to be examined by the WHO laboratory in London before they can be sure whether or not Armenia has a swine flu case. "Only after receiving the results of examination from London we can say whether they are infected with H1N1 or not," says Hayk Darbinyan, RA Deputy Health Minister. "God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless! But if we find H1N1 Virus outbreak in Armenia we are ready to combat against the influenza with all possible methods. Unfortunately the results of the analysis will arrive only in 25 days. "Our citizens don’t need to panic. They must simply meet the rules of hygiene and prevent the further spread of the influenza. All kindergartens and schools are under surveillance," the Deputy Health Minister added. According to him, citizens must simply follow rules of hygiene in order to not get infected by the swine flu. “The Armenian medical services are “prepared” to cope with the H1N1 pandemic and will now seek to acquire newly developed flu vaccines “as soon as possible.” “We are looking for different ways of getting the vaccines,” she said. “We are negotiating with both international organizations and vaccine-producing companies,” he said. In this case panicking won’t bring any result and it’s necessary to at least follow the simple steps of hygiene and hope that the plague will pass Armenia.
