There are already over 250 cases of whooping cough in the country. Both babies are one month old. At this age, children are defenseless, the immune system does not work. Therefore, the persons in their environment should be immunized. Most likely, someone drove the disease asymptomatically. This was stated by the director of the National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Prof. Iva Hristova in the program “ More from the day” according to BNT.
The disease mainly affects schoolchildren, between 6 and 12 years old, that is, between the second and third immunization with an incomplete immunization cycle. Their parents are also sick, even their grandparents. The clinical picture is different in non-immunized with a severe and strong coughing attack, leading to shortness of breath, which is typical for students. In babies, there are no such attacks of coughing, but there is a stoppage of breathing, difficulty in taking in air, and it is accompanied by a normal temperature. In adults, the cough is accompanied by urges to vomit, she explained.
There is a risk of an epidemic. These cases will increase. Almost half of the country's districts have reported whooping cough cases. Mainly in Sofia city and Sofia region, Stara Zagora, Varna and Kyustendil. In the coming weeks, we will have a further increase in cases, the data show.
The disease proceeds with a low temperature and the onset begins atypically, as an acute respiratory disease – runny nose, cough, tiredness and mild fever. Then there is a coughing period for weeks. It is a bacterial disease and responds to antibiotic treatment. When the clinical picture unfolds, the released toxins and enzymes will lead to seizures, explained Prof. Hristova.
She specified that infectious diseases follow a wavy curve, it has to do with what kind of immunity we have developed.
"The vaccinated are quite protected, but not completely. They are protected to the extent that they may not get sick, or the carrier of pathogens is shorter, but it all depends on individual immunity. The scope of pertussis vaccination in our country is quite good – over 92%," the director of the National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases also said.