Influenza epidemic in almost half of Bulgaria - schools temporarily closed in 4 districts

Almost half of Bulgaria is in a flu epidemic. As of January 27, four districts - Veliko Tarnovo, Haskovo, Pleven, and Vratsa—are implementing measures to curb the spread of the virus. In four of the 11 districts, in which currently an epidemic declarations is in effect, schools have been closed, but students study online. These are Vidin, Vratsa, Haskovo, and Yambol. Starting Wednesday, students in the districts of Plovdiv and Varna will also switch to online classes.

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Vidin has been in a flu epidemic for a week. However, the morbidity is not decreasing. The children's ward at the local hospital is full.

Dr. Iveta Naydenova, director ofSt. Petka Hospital in Vidin: "A lot of children were admitted and discharged at the weekend so that new patients could be admitted. There is no decrease in the number of sick children."

The hospital is the only one in the region, and the pulmonary ward for adults is also full.

Dr. Naydenova added, "There are currently no free beds. Usually, the doctors on duty carefully assess admissions, accepting only the most urgent cases."

The hospital has reported a significant increase in flu cases in Vidin. Authorities are urging elderly patients to seek help from their general practitioners first. In Blagoevgrad, the infection rate remains high, though there are available beds in hospitals. Most of the patients waiting outside doctors' offices are children.

Dr. Nikolina Samardzhieva - general practitioner: "Most children are absent from school and there are fewer students. Maybe we should let the children go on holiday."

In Blagoevgrad, the number of absent students and teachers is low, so in-person classes continue. However, in Plovdiv, students will switch to online learning starting Wednesday.

Mariana Naydenova - director of the Aleko Konstantinov Primary School: "We have three sick teachers and a total of 127 sick students. There is no tension, even for first graders who haven’t yet had online classes."

The midterm vacation this year will be on February 5, and the mayor of Plovdiv has decided that students will also have two additional days off due to the flu outbreak.

Kostadin Dimitrov - Mayor of Plovdiv: "This will help stop the flu wave and the increasing number of illnesses. I believe this is a good step to protect the health of both students and teachers."

In Plovdiv, most of the flu cases involve infants and children under 4 years old.

Dr. Argir Arigrov, Director of Regional Health Inspectorate - Plovdiv, explained, "Among those infected, 936 per 10,000 are children. The next group, with about 730 cases, is children between 5 and 14 years old. The lowest infection rate is among those over 65."

There are still available beds for flu-related complications in the Plovdiv region. In Sofia, the number of flu cases is also rising. The pediatric ward at Lozenets Hospital is full.

Dr. Militsa Docheva - Clinic of Pediatrics, Lozenets University Hospital. "The flu usually presents with milder symptoms, often treated on an outpatient basis without the need for hospitalisation. However, secondary infections may lead to complications requiring hospital admission."

Radoslava Dimitrova's son has not been tested for influenza. He was admitted to the hospital after having a high fever for almost two weeks:

Radoslava Dimitrova's son was not tested for the flu but was admitted to the hospital after nearly two weeks of high fever: "He didn’t respond to the two antibiotics prescribed by his pediatrician. He started with flu-like symptoms, but it's actually an infection. He’s now on intravenous antibiotics, and we hope to be discharged soon."

In the Pulmonary Clinic at the Children’s Hospital in Sofia, five chronically ill children are currently being treated for Flu A.

Dr. Ivaneta Ivanova, a pediatric resident at Prof. Ivan Mitev hospital, explained, "They are under observation and receiving antiviral treatment to avoid complications."

Doctors advise testing for the flu at the first sign of symptoms. From Wednesday, the districts of Gabrovo, Kyustendil, and Montana will also introduce measures to curb the spread of the flu.