MOSCOW, Nov 18 (Reuters Life!) - Russia's top health official has proposed that the country's fashion designers create trendy face masks to combat swine flu, his spokeswoman said on Wednesday 18 November.

Telling health experts in the west Siberian city of Tomsk on Tuesday 17 November, Gennady Onishchenko said: "They could design them as clothing... it would be absolutely amazing!"

More than 5,600 cases of H1N1, or swine flu, have been confirmed in Russia, while local media reports say 26 people have died from the virus.

Onishchenko said flamboyant designer Slava Zaitsev, known for his deep reds and blues on traditional Russian patterns, or Valentin Yudashkin, who dresses the nation's military, could be fit for the job. (Reporting by Tanya Ustinova, writing by Amie Ferris-Rotman, editing by Paul Casciato)