Health security

Flu epidemic kills 20 in Russia’s second largest city

The death toll from the flu epidemic in Russia’s second largest city of St. Petersburg has reached 20, a local health official said on Monday. 
"The number of flu lethal cases was 15 on Friday and at least five more deaths were registered over the weekend," said Tatiana Zasukhina, a deputy head of the city’s health committee. The Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights announced a flu epidemic in St Petersburg on January 22. "Between January 11 and January 17, 2016, influenza and other acute respiratory diseases have exceeded the epidemic threshold by 30% for the entire population," the service said in a statement. According to the health committee, some 11,000-12,000 people get infected with flu every day in St. Petersburg and at least 7,000 of them are children.