Before we say 'goodbye' to the summer, we enjoy the last rays of the sun in the hope that they will help us to fight the influenza viruses attacking our bodies in winter. Soon the season of influenza vaccines will arrive, which means that the last days of the summer vacation and bathing in the salt waters of the sea are approaching.

As a rule, there are diseases that occur depending on the seasons. The summer heat this year caused suffering among tourists with weaker immune systems who quickly fall into the grip of gastrointestinal infections. Frequent complaints from tourists who stayed in one and the same resort did not alarm epidemiologists, however. "The picture is the same at this time every year, both in Bulgaria and in other countries," says Prof. Dr. Mira Kozhuharova - national consultant on epidemiology.

"Intestinal infections during the warmer days are common diseases. There are no grounds to claim that their cause is sea pollution. In the study of waters to assess their quality, we look for the presence of a certain type of microorganisms. If they are present in the water, that means there is a problem with cleanliness and control in the studied reservoir, which, however, is not related to the number of people suffering from intestinal infections. We have so far received no data for sick people, because they were at the resort. Bulgarians who travel on holiday abroad are very well informed about the rules of personal hygiene and the benefits of immunizations. Regarding the hundreds of refugees who move from Asia and Africa to the Old continent and sometimes pass through Bulgaria, I must clearly say that these people do not carry risks of spreading diseases. To the contrary, they themselves are at risk. They bear no different infections from those that we Europeans have. It is completely groundless to create fears that apart from their heavy personal problems refugees also carry infectious diseases. Of course, if you leave them in conditions that are not fitfor normal life and normal hygiene, we are exposing them to the same risks to which we expose our population in similar circumstances. We need to stop speculation on this topic. Moreover, their health is at risk because sometimes these are small children, pregnant women, and people with various chronic diseases. Going through the host countries if they do not find adequate support there, they really are at high risk. In connection with the preparation of health inspectors in Bulgaria, we already feel the lack of sufficient staff. The EU has special programs aimed at staff who have skills to work with communicable diseases. In Bulgaria, however, this profession is not attractive to young Bulgarian medics. The problem is exacerbated and it is time to take action at the state level. We still have a working system, which we should strengthen, so that we might avoid the need to establish it from scratch in the future.”

Among the fundamental principles set out by the WHO /World Health Organization/ for avoiding infections during the warmer days are the consumption of cooked food, and not drinking water from unsafe sources. When a person goes out in nature on a hike, it is better to carry bottled water. In connection with the occurrence of infection with brucellosis in livestock in Bulgaria, epidemiologists advise people to to the good old Bulgarian tradition, according to which the milk should be well heated to boiling point before consumption.

English Rossitsa Petcova