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Coronavirus pandemic

Current surge in flu cases unlikely to exceed 2009 pandemic — expert

Modern vaccines can protect against this variant of the influenza virus, infectious disease expert Nikolay Malyshev said

MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. The current growth in influenza cases, including swine flu, will not reach levels of the 2009 pandemic, since the majority of the population already have a certain degree of immunity to it, infectious disease expert Nikolay Malyshev told TASS on Saturday.

"The majority of people have already had some form of contact with this flu variant. The elderly certainly did, and so did middle-aged people. Many young people have already been exposed to it as well. Besides, there was a surge in cases in 2015. I don’t think that an outbreak like that should be expected," he said.

The global outbreak of H1N1, also known as the swine flu virus, occurred in 2009-2010. According to the World Health Organization, the pandemic affected 30% of the global population in 214 countries, claiming the lives of over 18,000 people.

Malyshev said that modern vaccines can protect against this variant of the influenza virus. Also, medicines that were not available during that period are being widely used now.

According to the expert’s estimates, Russia has already reached the peak of flu cases, and it will continue until the New Year holidays. A second wave of the disease is possible after that period, he added.

According to the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, cases of influenza and acute viral respiratory infections in Russia increased by 35.4% in the past week. Flu viruses account for 52.6% of all cases, with swine flu being predominant among them.

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