Two of the three infected with West Nile fever in our country have died, the Ministry of Health announced.
The disease is transmitted through infected mosquitoes, writes the Telegraph.
The first sick man is from Haskovo region. The case was defined as imported, as he had been residing in Greece since May of this year. The man returned to Bulgaria at the beginning of August due to complaints of numbness and severe muscle pain, skin rash, vomiting and a temperature of 38 degrees, which disappeared spontaneously in a few days. He was found unconscious at home by his relatives. The patient was hospitalized in an internal ward and was treated for bronchopneumonia. After being discharged from the hospital, he continued to complain of severe fatigue and weight loss.
The other two cases are from the Sofia city district. The patients were hospitalized urgently in an impaired general condition. One of them has an accompanying disease - Parkinson's disease. On admission, the patient had a temperature of 40 degrees, severe weakness in the limbs, fatigue and shortness of breath. According to relatives, within a few days there was a sharp deterioration in his condition, which led to the need for hospital treatment.
The third man fell ill with a fever, an elevated temperature of 37.8 degrees and weakness in the lower limbs. He was treated with an antibiotic by his GP. After his condition worsened, he self-referred for hospital treatment. He was hospitalized with a diagnosis of congestive heart failure, and fell into a coma a few hours later. The two cases from the city of Sofia ended in death. The three sick men are between the ages of 61 and 74.
Lethality in persons from the risk groups reaches 17%. Personal precautions include using mosquito repellent, wearing clothing that covers exposed body parts, netting windows, etc. Because of the cases, the Ministry of Health has sent letters to the RZIs in the country with an instruction to strengthen the supervision and control of the disease.