Over 200 Sarajevo Canton citizens, including 81 children, were infected with measles since the beginning of the year, the Public Healthcare Institute confirmed on Wednesday after the disease claimed the life of a seven-month-old baby earlier this month.
Of 220 infected persons, 208 were not vaccinated against this disease.
The most of the measles cases were registered in Sarajevo's most populous municipalities, Novi Grad and Novo Sarajevo, followed by Centar, Stari Grad, Ilidza, Vogosca, Hadzici and Ilijas municipalities. Trnovo municipality did not record any measles case.
The direct cause of the infection is drastically decreased percentage of vaccinated children, especially the MMR vaccine. Despite the fact that the vaccination is mandatory, some parents still refused to vaccinate their children, which has led to extremely low community immunity.
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Of 220 infected persons in Sarajevo Canton, 81 are the children aged between two and five, followed by the children less than two-year-old. Adults aged over 45 are the least affected by the disease.
Representatives of the UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO) urged the citizens to vaccinate their children stressing that this was the safest, most efficient and the only way of protection.
