Assoc. Dr. Angel Kunchev: there are 314 officially registered cases of whooping cough in our country

Until now, 314 cases of whooping cough have been officially registered in Bulgaria whooping cough. Certainly, the real incidence is many times higher, since immunized persons cause the disease very mildly. This is what he said in the program "Bulgaria, Europe and the world in focus" on Radio "Focus" Assoc. Ph.D. Angel Kunchev, chief state health inspector.

"Bulgaria is getting involved at the latest possible stage in the process that is going on in Europe with whooping cough. But it is obvious that the vaccine, which is used by all developed countries in the European Union, is very easily tolerated, but on the other hand, it gives a slightly weaker immunity, which decreases over time, so that infection can occur. Now, another issue is that if you have the main immunization, which is done at two, three, four years, and possibly re-immunizations later, even if a person gets infected, it passes relatively easily, without consequences and without risks. However, this is not the case for the youngest children – or those who did not reach immunization age, until the second month, or those who for some reason, and the reasons can be very different, why they did not receive immunization. There, the risk is particularly high and our measures are aimed at protecting them above all", pointed out Prof. Kunchev.

He explained that efforts are aimed at reducing the intensity of a potential epidemic: "We are trying to reduce its intensity, to affect fewer people, especially those who are most sensitive – these are the children up to one or two years old, where the consequences are usually more severe. So the measures are aimed in several directions. Firstly, already at the end of last year, we sent reminder letters to all GPs to go through their lists again, to see if there are any children who are not immunized, absent or delayed for medical reasons, or something parents had fears and questions about, but to do as much as possible to cover and protect as many children as possible. Now, in terms of diagnostics – until now it was only done at the Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, which of course makes it difficult. We have also opened a second laboratory at the Stolichna RZI, which has also started work and can make the diagnosis with a PCR test, and we are currently working on providing diagnostics in the university centers in Varna, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and Pleven, so that it is a little more "It's easy and there is an opportunity to prove the virus," noted the chief state health inspector.

Associate Professor Dr. Angel Kunchev explained how to proceed when a case of whooping cough is detected: "When a case is detected, the regional health inspectorates first prescribe measures to the patient – isolation at home, it is best to be treated at home, not to infect other children, persons, depending on what age it is. Accordingly, the classes that are affected, or groups in kindergartens, are placed under quarantine. This means making it so that they have minimal contact with other groups, no new children are accepted, etc. All of this is accomplished to varying degrees. Entry control has also been increased, mostly in kindergartens, but also in the lower grades, as sometimes parents who do not have the opportunity try to leave children with already visible symptoms.