Kiev - The number of deaths and infections from flu were still rising in Ukraine on Monday, as government officials argued the outbreak was showing signs of stabilizing.

"Today we clearly had certain positive signs of a reduction in the flu infection rate," said Prime Minister  at a meeting with World Health Organisation officials. "We are seeing a positive trend."

A total of 155 people have died from flu or flu-related symptoms since the outbreak struck the former Soviet republic in late October, with nine victims losing their lives in the last 24 hours, Tymoshenko said, in comments reported by 1+1 television.

Lab tests had confirmed the virulent A/H1N1 influenza strain, known also as swine flu, was responsible for 15 of the deaths, according to data made public on Ukraine's Ministry of Health website Monday.

Segodnia, Ukraine's largest daily, reported on Monday that the number of swine-flu-related deaths nationwide was actually 24.

Tymoshenko said the flu situation was nonetheless showing signs of improvement. She said the number of Ukrainians admitted to hospitals as flu patients fell for the first time on Sunday, to 42,468, compared with 127,254 on Wednesday.

Almost 1 million Ukrainians have received treatment for the flu since the October 29 initial outbreak, according to Ministry of Health statistics. Most live in Ukraine's western Lviv, Ivano- Frankivsk and Ternopil provinces, adjacent to Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

Officials in the Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil provinces echoed Tymoshenko's assertion that the infection rate was stabilizing. A Ternopil city council statement said, "there is a definitive improvement in the epidemic's situation," according to an Interfax news agency report.

Almost 50,000 people across Ukraine have been hospitalized for dangerous flu infections, and 445 are in severe or worse condition, according to a report from the Korrespondent website.

Shortages of basic medical supplies for first-line response to flu continued to be widely reported in major Ukrainian media on Monday, despite repeated promises by Tymoshenko that state-owned pharmaceutical and fabric factories would soon redress the problem. (dpa)