03. 11. 09. - 13:00

• more General News news
• RSS Feed General News

03. 11. 09. - 13:00

Austria to ship almost half a million masks to Ukraine

By Lisa Chapman

Austria is to ship almost half a million surgical masks to the Ukraine to help the Eastern European state battle swine flu.

Social Democratic (SPÖ) Health Minister Alois Stöger said this morning (Tues) 464,840 surgical masks would be sent in response to the Ukrainian government’s appeal for international help in combating the disease.

He added 150,000 pairs of protective gloves and 3,000 bottles of disinfectant would also be sent.

Meanwhile Stöger has appealed for public calm following the first death from swine flu in Austria yesterday.

He said Austria was well prepared for swine flu.

The call came after an 11-year-old girl from South Tyrol, Italy, who had spent 10 days in intensive care at an Innsbruck hospital, died yesterday.

Christoph Wenisch, a specialist on infections at Vienna’s Kaiser Franz-Josef Hospital, told Austrian broadcaster ORF after speaking with colleagues in Innsbruck that the girl's immune system had run "out of control" after she had had a bacterial infection and then been infected by the swine flu virus A/H1N1.

He said: "Her immune system was tackling both infections and the fight against one was working against the fight against the other."

The girl's condition had "clearly worsened" yesterday after her lungs had stopped functioning and she was put on a heart-lung machine to supply her with necessary oxygen. Doctors confirmed she had died overnight.

She had been at Innsbruck Children’s Clinic since 23 October.

Meanwhile doctors say they are cautiously optimistic about two other seriously-ill swine flu patients.

Doctors at Hanusch Hospital in Vienna where an 18-year-old pregnant woman has been in intensive care since last Thursday said her breathing was now better and her situation, although still critical, had stabilised.

A spokeswoman for Salzburg provincial clinic said a 41-year-old German man who was hospitalised there last Wednesday with swine flu and a serious bacterial lung infection was "better" although still in an artificial coma. He had been responding well to antibiotics for combating multi-organ sepsis, she added.

Swine flu also caused the closure of a school last week. East Tyrol authorities closed a school in Lienz for a week on Wednesday last week after 26 students were struck down with suspected swine flu.

Meanwhile, Austria’s 280,000 health-care personnel began to receive vaccinations against swine flu on Tuesday last week.

The vaccination of the 600,000 people at high risk – pregnant women and the chronically-ill – is set to begin on 9 November.

Health authorities say they have enough vaccine for 800,000 to be vaccinated by the end of November."

The ministry has received 520,000 doses of pharmaceutical firm Baxter’s "Celvapan" swine flu vaccine and will receive additional doses at the rate of 200,000 a week.

Health-insurance funds will cover the cost of the vaccinations except for a fee of 4.90 Euros a dose. Doctors recommend that people receive two doses of the vaccine three weeks apart.

Austrian Times

Related articles: medical focus

1. Two more people develop listeria infections

   » General News 2010-03-11

   Two more people have been hospitalised with listeria bacteria infections, the Agency for Health and Nutrition Safety (AGES) announced today (Weds).

2. Obesity, youth and pregnancy up risk of swine flu

   » General News 2010-03-11

   People who are obese, young and pregnant are more likely than others to get swine flu, according to two doctors at Vienna Medical University’s Institute of Virology.

3. Safety office says firms responsible for proper internal controls

   » General News 2010-03-11

   The Styrian Safety Office said today (Thurs) in reference to the ongoing deadly cheese problem that firms were responsible for controls against use of ingredients that had already passed their expiration dates.

4. New prophylactic for MS victims

   » General News 2010-03-02

   New tablets with greater prophylactic effect than older remedies are available at pharmacies for multiple sclerosis victims, it was announced today (Tues).

5. System failure caused listeria contamination of cheese, admits firm

   » Business 2010-03-01

   Failure in warning and control systems was the cause of listeria contamination of eight brands of its Quargel cheese, Styrian dairy firm Prolactal said yesterday (Sun).

6. Toddler dies from meningitis

   » General News 2010-02-26

   A three-year-old girl who was initially thought to have the flu died at home from meningitis before she could be taken to hospital in Styria’s Hartberg district.

7. Four Austrians on virus cruise ship

   » General News 2010-02-26

   Four Austrians on a cruise ship in the Caribbean struck down with a norovirus epidemic are due to return home today (Fri).

8. Little interest in morning-after contraceptive pill

   » General News 2010-02-22

   Austrians have little interest in the morning-after contraceptive pill, according to Vorarlberg Pharmacy Chamber Vice President Christiane Körner.

9. Austrian physicist creates basis for functional artificial muscles

   » Panorama 2010-02-22

   An Austrian physicist has used historical inspiration to create the basis for functional artificial muscles, it was reported today (Mon).

10. Salzburg scientists seek cause of skin ageing

    » Panorama 2010-02-19

    Scientists at Paracelsus Privatuniversität Salzburg have began research into the causes of skin ageing, project leader and dermatologist Johann Bauer said today (Fri).

Related articles: CEE news

1. Austrian auctioneer bids for Croat gold and silver, report claims

   » Business 2010-03-11

   A Vienna-based auction house is reportedly interested in a Croatian company’s gold and silver stock.

2. Two Austrian food firms to expand abroad

   » Business 2010-03-11

   Delicatessen product producer Mautner Markhof and spice producer Kotanyi are planning to expand abroad, it emerged yesterday (Weds).

3. VIA has 5.4 per cent increase in passengers

   » Business 2010-03-11

   Vienna International Airport (VIA) reported today (Thurs) that it had had a 5.4 per cent increase in passengers year on year to 1,197,138 in February 2010.

4. 'AIDS 2010' will have EE focus

   » Panorama 2010-03-11

   Organisers of the International AIDS Conference to be held in Vienna later this year said the event’s focus would be on marginalised groups with the disease like drug addicts in Eastern Europe (EE).

5. Carinthian Slovene organisation opts for self-dissolution

   » General News 2010-03-10

   The Council of Carinthian Slovenes’ executive committee voted yesterday (Tues) in favour of its dissolution, head Karel Smolle announced.

6. Austrian diplomat in Croatia accused of wife beating

   » General News 2010-03-10

   An Austrian diplomat in Croatia is suspected of having beaten up his French wife.

7. Serb couple held young Romanian woman captive

   » General News 2010-03-09

   A Serbian couple was guilty of holding a young Romanian woman captive against her will, an Innsbruck provincial court ruled yesterday (Mon).

8. Military frontier patrols useless, says report

   » General News 2010-03-09

   Military patrols of Austria’s eastern frontiers are practically useless in terms of increasing public security, the Federal Audit Office (RH) said yesterday (Mon).

9. Taxi driver charged with human trafficking

   » General News 2010-03-09

   A Vienna taxi driver was charged yesterday evening (Mon) with human trafficking for trying to take an Albanian man from Maribor, Slovenia, to Vienna, police said.

10. Austrian coach sacked after one match in Croatia

    » Sports 2010-03-08

    The first Austrian football coach to work in Croatia’s top-flight league was sacked after just one match.

'AIDS 2010' will have EE focus
Organisers of the International AIDS Conference to be held in Vienna later this year said the event’s focus would be on marginalised groups with the disease like drug addicts in Eastern Europe (EE).

Muse to headline Frequency Festival
British rock superstars Muse will head the bill at this year’s Frequency Festival, it was announced today (Thurs).

Safety office says firms responsible for proper internal controls
The Styrian Safety Office said today (Thurs) in reference to the ongoing deadly cheese problem that firms were responsible for controls against use of ingredients that had already passed their expiration dates.

Thugs arrested in Vienna
Vienna police announced today (Thurs) they had arrested two young men aged 23 and 18 for a series of crimes last year.

Vienna night underground service to begin on 4 September
The new all-night underground service on Fridays and Saturdays will begin on Saturday, 4 September, it was announced today (Thurs).

AUA 2009 turnover and passenger numbers down
Struggling former flagship carrier Austrian Airlines (AUA) failed to get back in the black last year as turnover and passenger numbers dropped.

Sepp Resch is Lenze's new GM
The Austrian subsidiary of German transmission and automation specialist Lenze announced today (Thurs) that Sepp Resch would be its new general manager for Austria and Eastern Europe.

Forty per cent of kids are improperly secured in cars
Forty per cent of kids in Austria are either not secured or improperly secured in cars, according to car club ÖAMTC.

Electricity outage at Vienna's AKH hospital
There was a short electricity outage at Vienna General Hospital (AKH) yesterday (Weds) afternoon, AKH chief Reinhard Krepler said.

VIA has 5.4 per cent increase in passengers
Vienna International Airport (VIA) reported today (Thurs) that it had had a 5.4 per cent increase in passengers year on year to 1,197,138 in February 2010.