Peer-reviewed article
Ongoing measles outbreak, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, December 2023 to February 2024.
Musa S, Salimović-Bešić I, Džambić JB, Tihić N, Bajramović A et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001A measles outbreak occurred in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from December 2023 to February 2024, affecting 141 children and adults. Children under 5 years old made up the largest affected group, with 97% of cases occurring in unvaccinated individuals. Sixty-eight people were hospitalised, mostly with pneumonia and diarrhoea. The outbreak was caused by measles virus genotype D8.
Key points
- 141 measles cases notified between week 52 2023 and week 6 2024
- 97% of cases with known vaccination status were unvaccinated
- Children under 5 years were most affected (n=87), many unvaccinated during pandemic years
- 68 cases hospitalised with measles-related pneumonia and diarrhoea as most common complications
- Sequenced viruses from four cases identified as genotype D8
Limitations
The report describes an outbreak but does not provide detailed information on vaccination coverage rates in the general population, the underlying reasons for low vaccination uptake during the pandemic years, or long-term outcomes for hospitalised cases.
Abstract
We report on an ongoing measles outbreak in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with 141 cases notified between week 52 2023 and week 6 2024. Among those with known vaccination status, 97% were unvaccinated and the most affected group is children under the age of 5 years (n = 87) who were not vaccinated during the pandemic years. Sixty-eight cases were hospitalised, the most common complications were measles-related pneumonia and diarrhoea. The sequenced measles viruses from four cases belonged to genotype D8.