KIEV, Nov. 4 – Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Wednesday she prefers non-scientific ways of preventing flu-like illnesses rather than getting vaccines, adding confusion in the country that is already facing a swine flu epidemic.

Tymoshenko, addressing people in Ivano-Frankivsk, the epicenter of the flu outbreak, said people must decide whether to get vaccinated or to go ahead and protect themselves with “normal” means.

“I am not vaccinated,” Tymoshenko said in a local television address. “I am protecting myself like everybody: with lemon, onion, garlic, everything that is needed. I think the best way is simply to protect your health through well-known means.”

The comment is in a sharp contrast with President Viktor Yushchenko, who has urged the people to immediately get shots of flu vaccines at hospitals as the epidemic has already reached a dangerous level.

“The virus is spreading fast in Ukraine. The epidemic is killing people and healthcare staff,” Yushchenko said in a televised address on Wednesday. “As the head of state, I ask you to change your attitude towards vaccination, and if needed and after a mandatory consultation with your doctor, get it.”

At least 87 people died and more than 250,000 got sick with flu-like symptoms over the past three weeks, with the outbreak affecting 11 out of 25 Ukrainian regions, according to the Healthcare Ministry.

The World Health Organization, which sent a team to Ukraine to investigate the illnesses, said it has reasons to believe the outbreak may be caused by the swine flu, also known as (A)H1N1.

Meanwhile, the conflicting remarks between Yushchenko and Tymoshenko reflect the split among the two leaders on many issues – from economic reforms and foreign policy and to domestic politics - that has plagued the country since Tymoshenko’s appointment as the prime minister in December 2007.

In Ukraine only 58% of people are vaccinated from infectious diseases, a dangerously low level compared with 90% that is generally required as a good protection to prevent the spread of viruses.

Many people in Ukraine stopped getting vaccinations after two deaths of children had been reported over the past two years with some experts apparently blaming bad vaccines.

Dr. Yevhen Komarovskiy, who wrote a book on how to prevent and to treat acute respiratory illnesses, such as flu, said vaccination is the key to protecting from the disease.

“If you are able to get the vaccination, get it,” Komarovskiy said on his blog.

“If you face the virus and you do not have protective anti-bodies in your blood, you will get sick,” Komarovskiy said. “The anti-bodies will appear only in two cases: either you get sick [and recover] or if you get vaccinated.”

He especially warned against relying on “folk” remedies, like the ones used by Tymoshenko.

“Not any onion, not any garlic, not any vodka and not any pills will be able to protect you from the respiratory virus in general and from the flu virus in particular.” (tl/ez)