site.btaUPDATED Chief Health Inspector Says Flu Wave in Bulgaria Has Begun, on Brink of Epidemic in 1-2 Weeks

The flu wave has started, and the situation is on the brink of an epidemic in one to two weeks, Chief Health Inspector Angel Kunchev told Nova TV on Saturday. 

"I see the flu starting to gain momentum in certain regions and I expect that within ten days the first regions will declare a flu epidemic. The picture is dynamic," Kunchev said. He specified that the development of the disease is as expected by specialists, as in any winter season, excluding the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"The A1H1 Victoria strain that we are currently encountering is quite classical in its course and I don't think it will have severe consequences, but it all depends on the organism's condition. Many of us will encounter the virus but will not get sick, others will get sick but will get it for five to six days, some of them will be able to go through it on their feet," the health inspector said.

Kunchev specified, however, that this is not typical for influenza. He added that it strikes so suddenly and violently that a person is usually forced to stay home. It is recommended that the first four to five days, which are the most crucial and we are the most contagious, limit contacts so that more people do not get infected and complications do not occur. 

It is advisable to wear masks in health care facilities, Kunchev noted. And now the queues for GPs' surgeries are increasing, there the risk of people meeting the virus is very high, he pointed out. "Colleagues on the spot will resort to the familiar measures right from the pre-epidemic situation - we will stop the work of women's and children's consultations, we will ban appointments at hospitals, we will call on general practitioners to take some of the examinations to people's homes. From a medical point of view, wearing masks in all places is not only advisable, but I would say compulsory," Kunchev said.  

"We monitor morbidity, the purchase of medicines in pharmacies, the calls to the ER for such diagnoses, so we get a pretty accurate picture. If we get to a situation where at one point in the whole country all regions are in an epidemic, it means we have a national epidemic and the measures can be national, but practice shows that this rarely happens," he explained.

COVID-19 and influenza can cause unpleasant complications, and cases are levelling off, but COVID-19 is still putting more people in hospitals and unfortunately, with it the late effects are quite serious, Kunchev said. Influenza is also not to be underestimated, in people more affected for some reason the disease can be severe and with complications, he added. 

Kunchev described the level of spread of chickenpox and scarlet fever in the country as moderate. According to him, there is no risk of a measles epidemic for now, but there is always a possibility of the importation of the disease.