After three persons have been hospitalized, health authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) officially issued the measles epidemics, Institute of Public Health of Republika Srpska confirmed to local media on Thursday.
Two-years-old child and two adults, 25 and 26 years-old, are hospitalized in a local hospital in East Sarajevo, Institute of Public Health of Republika Srpska, one of the entities in BiH, said.
The number of infected persons is not important for a state of epidemics to be declared. Two related cases bring suspicion, three cases are a reason for epidemic proclamation, Microbiology specialist Mirsada Hukic explained.
BiH is for long time in danger of epidemics, but the speed of virus spreading depends on the collective immunity, how many people are susceptible to the infection and whether they are vaccinated, Hukic said.
“We are all the time in the danger of epidemics, we had two major epidemics in 2005 and 2014 when there were thousands of people infected,” Hukic added.
The only and the most effective measure is vaccination by MMR Vaccine (Measles, Mumps and Rubella Vaccine).
Between Feb.1 2017 and Jan. 31 2018, 14 732 cases of measles were reported to the European Surveillance System by 30 EU/EEA countries, mostly in Romania (5 224), Italy (4 978) and Greece (1 398), EU European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control website said.
Measles is a highly infectious viral disease that spreads through coughs and sneezes and can cause serious illness, with very young patients particularly vulnerable. Victims can develop pneumonia and other serious complications from the disease, and often need to be hospitalized, according to state health authorities.
