460 Infected with Measles in Bulgaria, 20 of them are Hospital Staff

There are currently 460 measles patients in our country, 20 of which are working in hospitals, the chief state health inspector, Dr. Angel Kunchev, told BNT. He stressed on the need to vaccinate everyone who, for their work, are more exposed to infection – not only medical but also technical and security staff. “This is the staff in infectious, children’s and internist wards because it is not always possible to identify measles infection right from admission. Unless the typical rash has appeared, the symptoms are flu-like – flushed skin, conjunctivitis, runny nose and fever. This is very common in ordinary respiratory illnesses as well,” the health inspector said.
On the other hand, he commented that health inspectorates were unattractive due to low pay, limited opportunities for career growth and inconvenient conditions for specialisation, with regular visits to major cities and clinics. “We are really suffering from a severe shortage, and that issue has been repeatedly raised. For now there is no permanent solution to inject new blood into the system,” Dr. Angel Kunchev said. “The shortage of epidemiologists, microbiologists and people capable of diagnosing is very frightening for a country, and I believe that one of the next steps of the Ministry of Health is to pay attention to public health because of the need to maintain a high level of readiness,” he said.

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