Podgorica, (MINA) – The Institute of Public Health (IJZ) called on parents to vaccinate their children with the MMR vaccine, indicating the high risk of importation and potential epidemic outbreak in Montenegro, due to the unfavorable epidemiological situation in Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Romania.

The IJZ said that a measles epidemic has been declared in those countries.

The IJZ data indicate that the vaccination coverage against measles, mumps and rubella is at an unsatisfactory level, below the required 95 percent.

“Furthermore, with the current coverage of 79.2 percent of preschool children who have received the MMR vaccine, with the coverage among the youngest generations being lower than 50 percent, the situation is alarming and creates a favorable environment for the virus spread, which poses a serious risk of epidemic outbreak”, IJZ stated.

They said that they expect the support of citizens in the joint efforts to preserve the health of children and the community from potential measles outbreak and other infectious diseases.