The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF warn of a global risk of a measles epidemic. The reason – a decrease in vaccination coverage.
Globally, the incidence of the infection has increased by almost 80% in the first two months of 2022, compared to the same period last year.
Decrease in the vaccination coverage against measles is also reported in our country. In 2011, almost 95% of children were immunized against the infection. Last year, the range dropped to 88%.
A mother of three, Rositsa Popova, says their pediatrician has given them all the required and some recommended vaccines.
“Vaccines, as part of advances in medicine, have contributed to a longer and better life for the population. “When I decide to vaccinate my child, I decide to protect him, my family and the small social circle in which the child lives,” she told bTV.
Pediatricians warn that the decline in vaccination coverage, especially in highly contagious diseases such as measles, poses a risk at the individual level.
“These are acute infectious diseases with a very severe clinical picture, especially when they occur in early childhood. We should not allow a disease that is vaccine-preventable to spread again, “said Dr. Denitsa Daskalova.
There are parents, though few, who refuse to immunize their children.
“It is his responsibility to put his own child and everyone else around him at risk. So the health authorities must hold these people accountable, “added Dr. Daskalova.
Against the backdrop of declining vaccination coverage over the past 10 years, only eight parents were fined last year, the health ministry said. The WHO emphasizes that in the case of measles in particular, the coverage should be over 95% in order to avoid epidemics.
“The Ministry of Health and the RHI must make efforts to convince people how important it is to vaccinate their children, because otherwise we can really witness a renaissance of all these diseases that have been a scourge to society,” said the WHO President for Bulgaria. Assoc. Prof. Mihail Okoliyski.
The Ministry of Health does not report an increase in the number of measles cases in the country.
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