„Active cases of whooping cough in our country are a little over a thousand. This more or less meets expectations – there was a delay in the progress of the contagion, which was due to the dispersion of the students around the holidays. Now there is likely to be some acceleration of the course of the epidemic, which also covers new areas. We expect, although not at high rates, to increase the number of cases – because of poor vaccination coverage, especially at young ages.“
This is what the chief state health inspector Assoc. Angel Kunchev told Euronews Bulgaria.
I expect 2-3 thousand cases by the end of the year. Against the background of the 32 thousand cases in Europe for the first quarter alone, this is not an impressive number.
However, according to him, the more important thing is that there are apparently no conditions for any very fast and very effective spread. However, those children who are immunized in a timely manner have sufficient immunity to prevent illness, he points out.
Lowering the age limit for pertussis vaccination will certainly provide much better protection, Assoc. Professor Kunchev is convinced. And regarding the vaccination itself, he said that “there is interest, although not explosive“.
With classic whooping cough, the symptoms are very clear: the child coughs – cruel, prolonged, to the point of turning blue, unable to breathe. Of course, this is the full picture, which is not always present - in incompletely immunized and long-immunized you will not see it in this form. But any prolonged cough, dry, concentrated more in the night period, which is not affected by treatment for more than a week, is already an indicator that it is good to consult. And it's best to do research to prove whether it's whooping cough or not.