Seasonal flu spreads heavily in Kosovo, Family Medicine Centres fill with patients

A 23-year-old from Pristina has told the Express that she has been infected with seasonal flu for eight days.

She has indicated that in the first three days of infection, her condition has been more serious, while now a week later, the situation has begun to improve.

The whole family has a flu. We have coughs, fevers, noses, and the whole body hurts. I feel very tired. The first three days I've just been lying there, I barely even talked. I'm better now, but I still feel tired”, she's shown.

Because of the spread of seasonal flu, the country's Family Medicine Centers have begun to fill with patients.

From the National Institute of Public Health, 15 thousand and 786 cases of seasonal flu have been reported from October 1st to December 12th this year.

This institute has shown that only during the 49th week (06.12,221,12,2021) were 5 thousand and 998 cases infected with flu-like diseases, 465 cases with acute respiratory infections and 12 cases with severe respiratory infections.

While the doctor at the main Centre of Family Medicine in Pristina, Drita Pekani-Gashi has told Express that within 24 hours, about 500 patients seek medical treatment at this centre.

According to her, 70 to 80 percent of patients seek help because of seasonal flu.

“at the main Family Medicine Centre in Pristina, the flow of patients who seek help because of the flu virus is quite large. The number of patients in general has increased, in which we can say 70-80 percent are patients who are infected with the seasonal virus. The number of patients at the QKMF in 24 hours is 500 patients”, she stressed.

Pekani-Gashi has shown that the flow of patients has begun to rise in the last three weeks. According to her, this flow is much larger than last year.

While it has shown patients mainly young and have fever, fever, headache, coughing, and other symptoms.

The patients come with a fluosis symptoms, fever, fever, headache, coughing, chest pain, joint pain, generalised muscle pain. Often, we also have theft and boating. This virus is especially affecting young people and children. We have school age and students. Old times are very rare, probably because of the vaccines that have made”, she said.

While she has said that because the sympathetology of flu patients is comparable to that of COVID-19, they recommend to some patients to be tested.

Pedani-Gashi has asked citizens to keep distance and wear masks.

She has said that citizens can be infected with viruses even by the touch of things, so she has asked citizens to maintain hygiene.

“Each person infected is able to infect the other person, so we need to be careful to wear masks, keep the distance, don't greet ourselves with handshakes or hugs, maintain personal hygiene, wash hands, keep hygiene in the environment, or work because we can be infected with the touch of things that are contaminated by the flu virus. In people who are not vaccinated, I had recommended that they be vaccinated because the vaccine protects a lot, or if we get sympatomology is easier”, he added.

With a large influx of patients, the main Family Medicine Centre in Ferizaj and other centres is also facing the patient.