Armenia: Swine-Flu School Closure Touches Off Panic

Armenia's decision to close public schools and kindergartens for two weeks in response to an outbreak of influenza is fueling panic about a swine flu pandemic. Officials assert the worries are groundless, and stress that they are "in control" of the situation.

One Yerevan bus passenger wearing a face-mask- a protective device used with increasingly frequency throughout the South Caucasus -- scoffs at the government's assertion. "One has to be an optimist to believe this," the woman commented. "How do I know what will happen to us tomorrow? With this mask, at least I am more likely not to catch an infection from the air. Every day I hear about new deaths from my acquaintances."

To date, the Ministry of Health has registered no deaths from the H1N1 virus, commonly known as "swine flu," but newspapers and Yerevan residents routinely pass on rumors about dozens of allegedly "instant" deaths from swine flu. Three deaths from other forms of influenza have, however, been registered.

On December 14, the ministry reported that 80 people had been hospitalized with suspected cases of swine flu. Two people have already died, including one pregnant woman. Health Minister Harutiun Kushkian stressed on December 8, however, that the situation was "not a pandemic."

But to prevent the flu outbreak from spreading, the government on December 8 shut down all public schools and kindergartens until December 19. Officials have not explained how they selected the re-opening date, or what additional steps they expect to take to protect youngsters from influenza.

The government's decision appears to have reinforced many Yerevan residents' worse fears. One mother of two says she will not send her children to school no matter what the authorities decide to do. "How could I send my kids to school when I constantly fear [the infection], when people keep on sneezing in the street and many schoolchildren have fallen ill?" Mariam Nshanian said. "We'd better stay at home and not go out, and try to prevent the infection through folk remedies."

Tamiflu, a popular influenza medicine, has already vanished from Yerevan drugstores. It is now available only at outpatient clinics and hospitals in case of special needs, but at no charge. Health Minister Harutiun Kushkian announced on December 8 that Armenia will receive 300,000 anti-A/H1N1 virus vaccines in late January 2010 from the World Health Organization. "This quantity is quite enough for us," Kushkian said.

But m?ny Armenians, skeptical of government promises, are relying instead on garlic necklaces, shots of vodka and spoonfuls of berry jams to ward off the disease.

Garlic prices have doubled in Yerevan groceries and markets with the flu season. But even with higher prices, only imported garlic from Iran can be found in stock. "Armenian garlic is more expensive because it is stronger. But we don't have any available. It's all sold out," said Yerevan supermarket assistant Aida Meliksetian, standing at a table with only several cloves of garlic.

Yerevan drugstore employees say that they are "overloaded" with work. Antibiotics and vitamins are selling out quickly. Face masks have become the winter's hottest accessory of sorts. ?he Ministry of Health reports that visits to outpatient clinics quadrupled over the past month.

"People are really frightened," commented suburban drugstore assistant Alla Avagian.

The Ministry of Health Care calls the panic "absurd." If the ministry was not "working quite effectively and transparently" on fighting Armenia's flu bug, it "would have covered up" the deaths registered to date "as well," the country's chief epidemiologist, Ara Asoian, asserted.

Asoian, who is also the director of Yerevan's Nork Infectious Diseases Hospital, where most influenza patients are being treated, says that complications "like in the case of the common flu" have developed in only 5 percent of all of Armenia's flu patients. No figure was available for the total number of influenza cases, but Asoian stressed that the situation is under control. "I'm sure the situation will get much better in about a week due to preventive methods," Asoian said.