Belarusian bloggers: Ministry of Health hides fatal cases of swine flu

• 29.10.2009, 11:29

More and more news about fatal cases of A(H1N1) virus in Minsk hospitals appears on the Belarusian Internet.

Blogger czy claims lethal outcomes of swine flu have been recorded in many hospitals in the capital of Belarus. The blogger also gives a list of the victims.

“One person dies in hospital #2, the diagnosis was confirmed. A 17-year old teen died in the children’s infectious hospital. One more person died there, results of culture tests are expected. A pregnant woman dies in hospital #10, men of 30 and 37 years old died in hospital #5, results of culture tests are also expected. All of them had an important symptom – viral pneumonia as a complication after influenza. 7 patients in hospital #7 and 4 in hospital #6 use artificial respirating units,” the blogger notes.

According to the internet user, “The Health Ministry of Belarus is looking for an emergency physician, who provoked the information leak about two patients who had died.”

As www.charter97.org has already reported, information about death of some people in hospital #5 appeared on the Internet on October 28. Minsk blogger sammy_belarus wrote two persons, 30 and 37 years old, died from the H1N1 influenza in the intensive care unit.

Hospital #5 refused to comment on this situation to our website. The Health Committee of the Minsk city executive committee said they didn’t have confirmed information the people had died from swine flu.

Asked to comment on the situation about the death in hospital #5, Alena Rudkova, the head of the specialized medical aid of the Health Committee, shouted: “You are the tenth to call us! Do not spread panic! We don’t know if it was the swine flu virus!” To a question what caused the death, the doctor said: “They died from pneumonia” and hang up.

We remind that death from swine flu have not been recorded in Belarus officially so far. The authorities denied such information every time it appeared.