Skopje, 10 August 2023 (MIA) - The health worker hospitalized with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever has received the first dose of the antiviral drug ribavirin and therapy will be given for the next four days, University Clinic For Infectious Diseases and Febrile Conditions director Milena Stevanovikj told reporters on Thursday.

"Unfortunately, the first diagnosed patient from the Shtip municipality of Karbinci died within a few hours. Which means that she could not be saved even if we had the drug with us. The second and very important question that I hear very often, is why the drug was not available in our country, and why do we purchase or find medicine after things like this happen. You can confirm this information with every major health organization. No country has this type of drug in stock. Doctors, and organizations dealing with large or small epidemics of Crimean-Congo or other hemorrhagic fevers within the endemic areas have them, and they help in this way when sporadic cases occur, like the one in our country" said Stevanovikj. 

In communication with infectious diseases doctors across the entire region, immediately after learning that there was a patient infected with Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever, they sought consultations, experiences and a cure.

"As regards our colleague at the Infectious Diseases Clinic, she is stable. She is entering a phase where bleeding is expected, or the so-called hemorrhaging phase. The Consilium of the doctors at the Clinic decided today to administer the antiviral drug ribavirin, which has been procured in our country. We follow the experience of those who had the most examined and treated patients in the world, and we believe that we are on a good path and that we are doing the right thing with every step we take in terms of treating the patient," Stevanovikj said. 

Asked whether any complications can arise from the drug, she said that there could be some side effects, and for that reason, a pathologist and a hematologist are involved in the patient’s treatment.

Commission for Infectious Diseases chair, Zlate Mehmedovikj, told MIA that the Commission fully supports everything that the Public Health Institute has done, the measures they took and recommendations they gave. 

No need for panic over the new situation with the Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever, he stressed, adding that there's no expectation to have more cases of Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever in the near future. 

He noted that from what they have seen, the first is a case of direct infection, and the second is likely transmission through contaminated blood.

The first recent reported case of Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever was a 27-year-old woman, who died from the infection after she had been bitten by a tick. ssh/nn/

Photo: MIA