OFFICE OF WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION IN BIH WARNS THAT MEASLES CAN CAUSE PNEUMONIA, MENINGITIS, BLINDNESS AND DEATH

SARAJEVO, JANUARY 25 (ONASA) – The Office of the World Health Organization in Bosnia and Herzegovina pointed out today the need for urgent efforts in the field of vaccination to stop transmission and prevent the further spread of measles.
After the health authorities of the Tuzla Canton declared a measles epidemic in the municipalities of Tuzla and Živinice, and several cases were also recorded in the Sarajevo Canton.
As they warn in the press release, measles caused by the virus is easily spread by breathing, coughing and sneezing and most often affects children, but it can affect all age groups. They can cause serious complications such as pneumonia, meningitis, blindness and convulsions, as well as lifelong disability and death.
– Vaccination is the only effective way to protect children from this potentially dangerous disease. Urgent vaccination efforts are needed to stop transmission and prevent the further spread of measles. At least 95 percent of children must be fully vaccinated, that is, receive two doses of the MRP (measles, rubella, mumps) vaccine in order to achieve collective immunity and prevent further spread of the epidemic – according to the Office of the World Health Organization in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to the latest data, only slightly more than 60 percent of children were vaccinated with the MRP vaccine in FBiH. Vaccination rates for the first dose of the vaccine, which protects against measles, fell from 96 percent in 2019 to 93 percent in 2022 across Europe, while coverage for the second dose fell from 92 percent to 91 percent over the same period.
– In 2023, measles affected all age groups, with significant differences in the age distribution of cases between countries. The number of patients in Europe jumped to 42,200, almost 45 times more than the previous year when 941 cases were registered. In 2021, there were an estimated 128,000 measles deaths worldwide, mostly among under-vaccinated or unvaccinated children under the age of five. This resurgence of measles is associated with a decline in vaccination coverage in the countries of the region, in the period from 2020 to 2022, which is partially related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly affected the performance of the immunization system, resulting in an increase in the number of unvaccinated and incompletely vaccinated children – warn from the Office of the World Health Organization in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As they point out, in order to make progress again towards the elimination of measles, it is imperative to achieve and maintain coverage of over 95 percent, with two doses of the measles vaccine.
– Achieving high coverage through routine vaccination must therefore remain a top priority for all countries. The WHO estimates that measles vaccines helped prevent 56 million deaths between 2000 and 2021, it said.
As pointed out in the press release, the Office of the World Health Organization in Sarajevo, as well as the regional office of the WHO for Europe, will continue to support the public health authorities of BiH in the implementation of the program of immunization and surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases.