“Measles is the most contagious of all infectious diseases and the risk of someone unimmunized getting sick is 96 percent. The consequences of measles are serious and the disease literally erases the immune memory”. This was said at a briefing by the state health inspector Assoc. Dr. Angel Kunchev.
“There is a risk of measles spreading in Bulgaria due to incomplete coverage with the vaccine. Vaccination coverage in our country with the first dose against measles, mumps and rubella is 91.2%, and with the second dose – 87.2%, which is lower than the desired 95%, he pointed out. On December 5 this year, the Romanian government declared a national measles epidemic, and there are now about 2,500 measles cases and one child has died, he said. The coverage against measles in Romania is low for the first dose, and for the second dose it is even lower and there is no way that an epidemic will not occur, Dr. Kunchev also said.
In the EU, 1,453 cases of measles have been detected, and in addition to Romania, there are also several hundred patients in Austria, France and Germany, added Dr. Kunchev. There is a place for measles to come from in Bulgaria as well, especially because of the upcoming trips on weekends,” explained Kunchev.
According to him, even a year after getting measles, children are not immunocompetent to any virus and are very susceptible to infection. There was a measles epidemic in Bulgaria years ago, recalled Dr. Kunchev and pointed out that 22,000 people were infected and 22 died.
Prof. Kantarjiev: Vaccinate the children, measles can have serious consequences
“In 40 out of 53 countries in the European Region of the World Health Organization, there is measles, with 40% of those affected being children in the age group of one to four years,” said the head of the “Surveillance of Communicable Diseases” Department at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Kremena Parmakova. According to her, measles is already a disease that appears at any age. Every year, children who have not received a single dose of the measles vaccine get sick, she added.
Associate Professor Angel Kunchev also commented on the incidence of seasonal flu. “According to my observations, after everything that happened not only to us, but also to the whole world around COVID-19, there is a sobering up and a return to sanity. “Recovery of confidence in vaccines is beginning,” he emphasized. The health inspector presented up-to-date data on influenza immunizations, the provision of free pneumococcal vaccines for adults aged 65 and over from 2024, as well as presented data on the implementation of the mandatory immunization calendar.
“It’s somewhat indicative of what’s happening with the flu prevention and reduction program. This year, 308,000 doses of vaccine were provided. About 270,000 or 88% of all have been given so far. One of the adjustments we made was to we will give the opportunity to those who want to be immunized until February,” said Kunchev.
When will the peak of the flu be and how to protect ourselves
“This season is very strange. There have been two things. One is that there was a delay of a week or two, but that has been overcome in the last week. For the 50th week, we have the exact number of last year in terms of the flu. The delay has been overcome and from now on it will only grow incidence of influenzahe added.
“Somewhere on January 8, 9, 10, we will see if the epidemic will have real values and we will see if our expectation that the epidemic will be at the end of January or the first two weeks of February will come true,” Kunchev also said.
“The second characteristic feature is that we have never entered the season with such a mix of causes. COVID-19 has not completely gone, but there is no pressure on the system,” explained the health inspector.
He explained that he is more worried about the development of measles in Europe than about whooping cough. Kunchev noted that measles vaccination coverage in our country is 91.2%, and reimmunization at 12 years is 87.2%.
2023-12-22 09:15:00
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