Romania is on the verge of a flu epidemic,
\nmedical authorities have warned, urging people to get the flu vaccine as the safest
\nway to protect themselves from the disease. The number of deaths from
\ncomplications caused by the flu stands at several dozens and the number of
\ninfected people is expected to grow. The coordinator of the Immunization Group of
\nthe National Association of General Practitioners, Gino Dumitra, explains:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The data that we have collected in
\nRomania in the past 15 years show that, on average, the biggest number of cases
\nis reported around March 15th.
\nThat means we are expecting more infections to be reported in the coming
\nperiod. Of course, ideally, people should have got the flu shot in November or
\nearly December, but they can still get it now. It takes two to three weeks from
\nthe moment of vaccination for the body to get really protected against the
\nvirus.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In order to limit the number of infections,
\npre-university classes were suspended on Friday, at the recommendation of the
\nHealth Ministry, which is expected to take a decision next week on whether to
\ndeclare or not a flu epidemic. Health Minister Sorina Pintea has stated that she
\nwill declare an epidemic if the next report of the National Public Health Institute
\nconfirms the third epidemic week in a row. Sorina Pintea:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I have asked the National Public
\nHealth Institute to present, on Tuesday, the situation at national level, for
\nus to be able to take the necessary measures as soon as possible. The decision
\nto suspend classes can be taken by school inspectorates and health authorities,
\nwhen the situation calls for it. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The measures aimed at preventing the virus from
\nspreading include restricting access to hospitals and other medical units and daily
\ntriages in schools and kindergartens. Similar measures have been taken in
\ncountries neighboring Romania, which are facing the same problem. In Bulgaria,
\nwhere the biggest number of infections was reported in counties in the south
\nand east, hundreds of schools and kindergartens have suspended their activity
\nover the flu scare, with experts expecting a peak in the first month of
\nFebruary. Hungary, Greece and Croatia
\nhave also been affected by the disease, with a growing number of people
\ninfected with the A-type flu virus reported.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Medical authorities have made it clear that immunization is the safest protection measure against the flu, as the number of people affected by the virus is increasing, in Romania and other countries in the region<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80434,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[32452,33038,35947],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-80433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-epidemic","tag-flu","tag-immunization"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n