Producers and importers of flu masks cannot keep up with orders as the demand for them in Poland has risen drastically, despite on a few dozen cases of swine flu being reported in the country.
Each delivery imported from abroad comes with a new, higher price, says Marek Konopelko, employee at one a medical company in Białystok, northeastern Poland.
"I think the price will continue to grow until the market is saturated, that is, as soon as large imports come from the Far East, for example,” he told Polish Radio.
Krzysztof Osiak, sales and marketing head at a Bialystok-based manufacturer of disposable medical devices said that demand has never been this high, as Poland’s eastern neighbours, particularly Ukraine, experience a flu epidemic.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has, however, advised against wearing masks outsider healthcare facilities. According to experts, they may even have a detrimental impact as people have a false sense of security and disregard other medical instructions.
Meanwhile. Ukraine’s president Victor Yushchenko, said this morning that he did not see a reason to call a state of emergency, though the country has reported 32 cases of swine flu and 14 deaths.
The World Health Organisation said Monday morning that it noted an “increasing and active transmission” of influenza virus across Northern and Eastern Europe, including Ukraine and Belarus, as well as in eastern Russia. The death toll worldwide from swine flu the WHO estimates at 6,071, (ab/pg)