The Commission for Infectious Diseases within the Ministry of Health has declared a measles epidemic on the whole territory of the country, reports President of the Commission, Vladimir Mikikj.
He pointed out that the intent was to take additional steps for the prevention of any further spreading, to decrease the number of the new infections and to prevent the occurrence of new cases with harsh symptoms of the disease.
“The decisions that were made in every public health center when an epidemic was declared, have now been extended to the whole territory. This means that there is a ban of kindergartens for all children that haven’t been vaccinated according to the immunisation calendar. All health workers have to be vaccinated with two doses of MRI vaccine, including students in medical schools. This measure is implemented on the territory of the city of Skopje, and now it will be extended to encompass the whole country. Visits to hospitals are banned and the teachers’ vaccination status will have to be checked,” said Mikikj.
The declaration of epidemic on the territory of the whole country was the result of 962 newly reported cases of infections in the last week, more than 60% of which occurred in the other cities.
“Six centers for Public Health that cover more than half of the territory or 55% have declared a measles epidemic and additionally 20 other cities have registered measles cases,” said Mikikj.
At the moment, more than 70 children have been hospitalized, where 55 were sent to the Clinic for Infectious Diseases and 15 were sent to the Pediatric Hospital where more than 7 are in critical condition.
