Pleven district declares flu epidemic

The Pleven district is in a flu epidemic from 24 to 31 January, said the director of the Regional Health Inspectorate, Dr. Ilian Minchev.

Anti-epidemic measures will be introduced. Women's and children's consultations as well as preventive medical check-ups are suspended. Scheduled immunizations will be stopped, as well as appointments in medical institutions, except for seriously ill patients. Screening will be introduced in childcare facilities, where there will be more frequent disinfection and ventilation of rooms. Masks will be mandatory for staff and patients in all health facilities in the district.

Students remain in class, will not be put on vacation or study online. The reason is that there is no alarming rate of absentees. In the district, the absentee rate is between 8 and 12 percent, and in the city of Pleven it is between 15 and 20 percent, which is below the critical 30 percent, Dr. Minchev explained.

To date, the incidence of influenza and acute respiratory infections (ARI) in the district is 273 per 10,000. Since yesterday, 33 new cases of influenza and ARI have been detected in Pleven.

The director of the Regional Health Inspectorate stressed that there is no workload in the pulmonary wards of the hospitals in Pleven, and the children's ward of the general hospital for Active Treatment "Dr. Georgi Stransky" is not busy. The necessary medicines for the treatment of influenza and ARI are available in the pharmacies.

Dr. Minchev assured that the situation is monitored daily. If necessary, additional measures will be introduced if the situation becomes more complicated, but for the moment there is no evidence that this will happen.