All measures being taken in measles epidemic, both children and adults are falling ill

(Patria) - Since the outbreak of the infectious disease measles in Sarajevo Canton, the Ministry of Health of Sarajevo Canton, after receiving expert opinion from the Public Health Institute of KS, declared a measles epidemic in the Sarajevo Canton area on January 26, 2024.

In January 2024, 15 sick individuals and 490 exposed individuals, people who were in contact with the sick, were reported.

Since the declaration of the epidemic, in order to ensure transparency of information for the public, employees of the Public Health Institute of KS have been updating the number of sick individuals daily on the Institute's website, and the Ministry of Health has held a series of meetings with healthcare institutions to monitor the epidemic and take measures to prevent its spread, about which the wider public has been informed.

The Ministry of Health of KS proposed concrete steps and measures to the Government of Sarajevo Canton, which the Government adopted at its 10th session held on 01.02.2024.

To date, 6,909 children have been vaccinated in Sarajevo Canton, and the number of measles cases in Sarajevo Canton is 3,315. The number of sick children is currently decreasing, and vaccination is regularly carried out in all organizational units of the KS Health Center.

Unfortunately, there is still a large number of unvaccinated children, which is the reason for the occurrence and spread of the epidemic.

The adopted measures are still in effect, and the Ministry of Health of KS, the Public Health Institute of KS, and pediatricians in Sarajevo Canton continuously urge parents to vaccinate their children, as vaccination against measles is the most effective measure to prevent the spread of the epidemic.

The measures are also available on the website of the Ministry of Health of KS, our social media platforms, as well as on the website of the Public Health Institute of KS. The Public Health Institute of KS continuously works on educating citizens to ensure that as many children as possible are vaccinated.

All information is transparent, and we have been and remain available for every journalistic inquiry. Since the declaration of the epidemic, we and representatives of the Public Health Institute of KS have explained in detail in the media and regularly urged parents to vaccinate their children as the only effective measure to prevent a larger number of children from getting sick. Through numerous media appearances, we have also explained that we were the first to declare an epidemic compared to others in FBiH, vaccinated the largest number of children in BiH, and we use every media appearance to appeal to parents for vaccination, including this time.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Health of KS will continue to monitor the situation regarding the measles epidemic and take measures in accordance with its competencies and without the need to spread panic among the citizens of Sarajevo Canton.