site.btaRomania on Verge of Double Epidemic

In the midst of a crisis with protesting doctors and nurses from hospitals in major cities and the threat of a general strike from February 1, Romania is on the verge of a double epidemic. After a national measles outbreak was declared in December, a flu epidemic is expected to be declared soon, Digi24 reported. The media outlet reported dozens of reported deaths from both diseases, adding that hospitals are overcrowded.

"We have children in the waiting room. I don't have a vacant bad in the ward," says Dr Gheorghita Jugulete from the Prof Dr Matej Bals National Institute of Infectious Diseases. 

"We have cases of patients admitted at night that have to stay in the emergency room until the second day," explains Dr Catalin Apostolescu. We are talking about sick people who come to the emergency room with severe forms of the diseases. "In one day, 300 patients arrive at the hospital with flu or measles. Ninety-nine per cent of the flu patients are unvaccinated," the specialist adds.

The waiting room of the Institute for Mother and Child Health is full of sick children, including newborns. "We have a lot of babies. They get infected from their brothers who go to kindergarten but don't wash their hands. We don't wash anymore because we're not scared like in the [COVID-19] pandemic. Most of those who come are seriously ill. About a third test positive for flu. We have 30-40 positive cases every day that require hospitalization," says Dr Mihai Kraiu.

Official statistics confirm the seriousness of the situation: 22 have died of influenza and 4 of measles since the beginning of the year. There have been over 100,000 respiratory infections in just seven days. 

"If it develops at this pace, it is possible that next week the National Institute of Public Health in Romania will declare an influenza epidemic," Dr Apostolescu notes.