According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health, seven out of all 28 districts in our country are in a flu epidemic.

These are Stara Zagora, Gabrovo, Sofia region, Dobrich, Pazardzhik, Plovdiv and Lovech.

"Despite the warmer temperatures, the flu started earlier.

At the very beginning of the pandemic, the predictions were that after the time we will spend in very serious isolation, it is possible that there will be such a boom.

There are also rhinoviruses that were not so affected by the measures against COVID-19.

But even with them there is an increase in cases," Prof. Radostina Alexandrova commented to bTV.

"The relationship between viruses is a long topic.

They can both hinder and help each other.

They help each other when they work together to better suppress the host's immune system.

Each virus has its own strategies and together they would do better.

However, they could also compete for resources in the cell.

The non-specific immunity that one virus creates can work on the other," she explained.

"We still have no definitive data on the combination between influenza and COVID-19 - the so-called

fluron.

According to the latest report from the US Centers for Disease Control, which is from December 16 of last year, of all hospitalized children in 2021 and 2022 under the age of 18 with COVID-19 also had the flu.

16% of the deaths in the same age group had such a double infection," pointed out Prof. Alexandrova.

She commented that the updated vaccines reduced the risk of hospitalization by three times and the risk of death by 19 times.

Prof. Iva Hristova: At the moment we have overcome COVID-19, but we have problems with the flu

"Usually, the peak of the flu epidemic occurs in February, but this year the events have shifted a bit," the expert also commented.

In Bulgaria, the first case of a new variant of COVID-19 - XBB.1.5, which is being monitored with increased attention by the World Health Organization (WHO), has been identified.

"He is probably the reason for the increased cases in China, but we cannot compare any country with the situation there at all.

Most countries have gone through at least three waves of the pandemic, and China is only now in its second.

We know that this variant escapes the immune response better, but we have no data on the severity of the clinical picture and the rate of spread.

flu