MOSCOW -- A Russian health official says the number of swine-flu patients in the country is increasing, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
Russian Health Care and Social Development Minister Tatyana Golikova told journalists that the total number of swine flu patients in the country is more than 4,500.
She added that 19 people in Russia have reportedly died from the virus.
The vaccination of citizens for swine flu began on November 9 in the Moscow, Bryansk, Voronezh, and Tyumen oblasts, as well as in the Altai Krai region.