The cases in the country are already over 500
The registered cases of whooping cough in Bulgaria already exceed 500 compared to 4 for the same period last year, announced the Acting Minister of Health, Dr. Galya Kondeva, at a press conference in the Council of Ministers.
According to her, this shows a trend towards an epidemic spread of the disease.
She noted that the most affected by the disease are children, who account for over 90% of all reported cases. Dr. Kondeva explained that the risk group of complications and hospitalization are children under 1 year old, 84% of whom are not immunized due to underage and other reasons.
The Minister announced that because of this, as well as after opinions from the National Council on Immunizations and the Council on Obstetrics and Gynecology and on the proposal of the Chief State Health Inspector, she made a decision to update Bulgaria’s immunization calendar.
According to the change, the basic scheduled immunization against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping coughpoliomyelitis, Haemophilus influenzae type B infections and hepatitis B, in newborns, to start earlier, namely from the sixth week.
The ministry will provide the opportunity for all pregnant women between 27 and 36 weeks of gestation who wish, regardless of whether they are health insured or not, to be immunized against this disease free of charge, Dr. Kondeva added. She specified that for this purpose an organization will be created in the RZI to carry out free immunizations for pregnant women.
