The Ministry of Health has provided the necessary quantities of vaccines against whooping cough, announced the Acting Minister of Health Galya Kondeva

(Clarification from the Ministry of Health in the second paragraph)

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has enough pertussis vaccines in stock for children aged two months to two years, who are most vulnerable to the disease. This became clear from the hearing of the Acting Minister of Health, Dr. Galya Kondeva, during the extraordinary meeting of the parliamentary committee on health.

Kondeva informed that by the end of this week there is an opportunity to import another 2,000 doses, with the total of 650 currently available in the Ministry of Health’s warehouse. These vaccine doses are intended for free sale in the pharmacy network and are for adults, the press service of Ministry of Health.

Our country has good immunization coverage for whooping cough – 92.4% in the last year, added the healthy minister. In the event of an outbreak, she said, immunization could start from when babies turn one and a half months old. Kondeva recalled that according to the immunization calendar, children receive a total of six pertussis vaccine doses during their lifetime. There is no reimmunization included for adults, she stressed. Kondeva said that if needed, the health ministry could provide funds to purchase additional quantities of pertussis vaccines.

Kondeva emphasized that the Ministry of Health constantly monitors the disease. Since the beginning of the year, a total of 314 positive cases of whooping cough have been registered, and the disease puts newborns at risk in the first year of their birth. The highest prevalence is in the city of Sofia – 214 cases. No cases have been reported in 11 districts, Kondeva stressed. As for what the Ministry of Health has done so far, the caretaker minister said that directive letters were sent to the regional health inspectorates, the Bulgarian Medical Union as early as the beginning of April, stating that all GPs should examine the persons, subject to immunization. The minister emphasized that diagnostic tests are provided in the Metropolitan Regional Health Inspection, as well as in the Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, and criteria have been introduced for the cases in which the diagnosis should be made.

Galya Kondeva noted that additional funds have been provided for the purchase of laboratory diagnostics for the next month, work is also underway to create conditions for carrying out the diagnostics. We analyze daily what the trends are, what the distribution is, assured the official minister. She said that the Ministry of Health is in constant contact with the Ministry of Education to ensure the protection of students and the ability not to panic. Kondeva drew attention to the fact that anyone sick with whooping cough should be subject to isolation at home for no more than 30 days. The non-sick and non-immunized are placed under medical supervision for up to 14 days, according to regulation number 6 of 2019. According to this regulation, when pertussis appears in a nursery, the affected persons are placed under observation for up to 14 days, and the affected group is placed under quarantine for the same period.