NATIONAL health authorities expect that the flu epidemic will spread throughout the entire country within two weeks.
According to the latest Health Ministry figures, in the previous week there was a total of 23 966 cases of flu in the country, compared to 18 730 the week before.
By the end of this week, the sanitary authorities will declare flu epidemics in Sofia, Pernik, Varna, Vratsa, Burgass, Russe and Kurdjali.
The total rate of flu and acute respiratory infections is 129.34 cases per 10 000 people, according to the Health Ministry.
Among the most affected are children in the 4 to 7 age bracket, followed by the 8 to 18 age bracket.
Physicians are warning parents to be careful and take their children immediately to the family doctor or to the hospital even in cases of common cold. According to health officials, this particular strain of the flu virus is extremely fast-developing and often causes complications resulting in meningitis and pneumonia.
According to Rositsa Kotseva of the National Flu Reference Laboratory in Sofia, by the end of the winter there will probably be a second and a third wave of flu epidemics. She also said that the laboratory has isolated the strain of the Moscow flu virus, which causes the epidemic. Experts from the laboratory are working on a vaccine against it.
Kotseva recommended that people vaccinate themselves, in spite the epidemic situation.
"Anyone who is in good health and does not have contacts with people with flu can have the shot," she said.
There are several kinds of vaccines in the pharmacies throughout the country.
The vaccines contain weakened strains of different types of viruses and are updated each year, based on the research and recommendations by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The efficiency of the flu vaccine depends on the general condition and the age of the person. Generally the vaccines protect in 70 to 90 per cent of cases.
According to the latest Health Ministry figures, in the previous week there was a total of 23 966 cases of flu in the country, compared to 18 730 the week before.
By the end of this week, the sanitary authorities will declare flu epidemics in Sofia, Pernik, Varna, Vratsa, Burgass, Russe and Kurdjali.
The total rate of flu and acute respiratory infections is 129.34 cases per 10 000 people, according to the Health Ministry.
Among the most affected are children in the 4 to 7 age bracket, followed by the 8 to 18 age bracket.
Physicians are warning parents to be careful and take their children immediately to the family doctor or to the hospital even in cases of common cold. According to health officials, this particular strain of the flu virus is extremely fast-developing and often causes complications resulting in meningitis and pneumonia.
According to Rositsa Kotseva of the National Flu Reference Laboratory in Sofia, by the end of the winter there will probably be a second and a third wave of flu epidemics. She also said that the laboratory has isolated the strain of the Moscow flu virus, which causes the epidemic. Experts from the laboratory are working on a vaccine against it.
Kotseva recommended that people vaccinate themselves, in spite the epidemic situation.
"Anyone who is in good health and does not have contacts with people with flu can have the shot," she said.
There are several kinds of vaccines in the pharmacies throughout the country.
The vaccines contain weakened strains of different types of viruses and are updated each year, based on the research and recommendations by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The efficiency of the flu vaccine depends on the general condition and the age of the person. Generally the vaccines protect in 70 to 90 per cent of cases.
