The swine flu epidemic in Greece is entering a new stage after yesterday a 35 year old man was treated in intensive care of the University Hospital in Iraklio, Crete with a bronchopneumonia after being infected with the H1N1 virus. This is the first serious case of the new flu in the country. Until now the disease was taking its normal course and there were no complications. The only alarming case until now was the 25 year old in Veria, who was discharged from the Thessaloniki hospital last week.

The doctors cannot find the reason how the 35 year old man from Crete got infected or why the disease turned into bronchopneumonia, because the man did not suffer from any serious chronic disease. The man did not feel good from last week and he was house treated. On Sunday he was admitted into the ER of the University Hospital with high fever, cough and suffocation. Since then he is in a private room and expert team of doctors is taking care of him. The man did not travel abroad recently and he was not in contact with another person infected with the virus. Epidemiologists expect that such swine flu cases, where the source of the infection is unknown, will multiply in the following months.

This man’s case, together with another two employees from the Greek telecom OTE, who were infected with the H1N1 virus while at work build the grounds for fear that Greece is going to a new phase of the disease and it is possible to see the first death case. All big companies, where a lot of people gather at one place, are on high alert for infection explosion. All employees are given leaflets with a short description of the symptoms of the new flu and preventive measures, which can be undertaken by everyone.