There have been no new hospital admissions at the Infectious Diseases Clinic since September 19; this marks the fourth consecutive day without new cases. Currently, 12 patients are hospitalized at the clinic. Three of them are in intensive care receiving oxygen support, including a patient who has been hospitalized for a long time and whose health status remains uncertain, Macedonian Minister of Health Sasho Klekovski said Wednesday.
The minister notes that the same measures and set of activities are being implemented regardless of whether an epidemic is declared; specifically, pest control operations are being carried out in the residential areas of patients confirmed to have the virus over the past week.
Meanwhile, the latest round of spraying in Skopje has been completed, and the State Sanitary and Health Inspectorate (SSHI) has conducted another extraordinary inspection across Macedonia regarding the spraying operations.
“We will summarize those results. It is very difficult to make predictions because the incubation period ranges from two to 14 days. There are municipalities where no spraying has been done at all, yet there isn’t a single case. Municipalities in the Povardarie region need to exercise greater caution. There are municipalities among the top three for spraying frequency that have recorded cases of West Nile virus. We should probably compare experiences from here and in Greece to see what they are doing better. Within a reasonable timeframe of three to five years, we need to phase out aerial spraying and switch entirely to ground-based spraying. This timeframe is necessary to prepare the machinery required for that type of operation. There are other practices from Greece that would be beneficial to adopt. We are working on this in collaboration with the Public Health Center and the Public Health Institute,” said Minister Klekovski.