An epidemic of flu and respiratory infections has now taken 135 lives in Ukraine, the health ministry said, as the country Saturday received a new portion of medical aid from Europe.

A total of 871,037 people have been recorded ill with flu and acute respiratory infections since late October, with 39,603 of them hospitalized, including 317 people in a grave condition, the ministry said.

The country has reported 32 cases of swine flu including 14 deaths connected with the A(H1N1) virus although officials have said it could prove to be the main strain of flu in the country.

A plane with Austrian assistance worth 2.5 million Ukrainian hryvnias (more than 300,000 dollars) arrived in Kiev early on Saturday, the press officer of the European Commission delegation to Ukraine, David Stulik told AFP.

"The consignment, of total weight 10.4 tonnes, consists of 464,640 protective masks, disinfectant liquids for face, hands and surfaces as well as 150,000 pairs of protective gloves," he said.

The United States is planning to deliver Ukraine 930,000 doses of vaccines for immunization against swine flu in early December, the embassy said.

Meanwhile, the panic over the flu epidemic has caused speculation of the possible imposing of a state of emergency and postponing of the presidential elections, scheduled on January, 17, 2010.

The secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council Raisa Bohatyriova said in a TV interview that there were some prerequisites for the emergency measures.

"To save other people perhaps we need the state of emergency. And there are the constitutional prerequisites (for that)...," Bohatyriova said.

But Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko refuted that the epidemic may influence the date of the presidential elections, saying that "for the moment there is no need for the cancellation of the elections."

Analysts suggested that rival Ukrainian leaders may be trying to exploit popular fears in campaigning ahead of January 17 presidential polls, as each candidate seeks to take the initiative in fighting the outbreak.