ZAGREB, April 23, 2018 – According to a report by the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), last year the number of children that were vaccinated continued to fall, for the sixth year in a row, and the greatest fall in vaccinations for MPR against measles, rubella and mumps was recorded with 2-year olds, followed by vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough as well as vaccines against Hepatitis type B.
The HZJZ hence said that due to the continuing fall in vaccinations a serious threat to collective immunity was quite possible, primarily among pre-school children in Croatia.
If that trend isn’t urgently stopped, we could soon be confronted with epidemics, primarily of measles, rubella, whooping cough and mumps, the report said.
The percentage of DTP vaccinations for five year-olds is about 85.6% however, there is a great discrepancy between counties from 41.7% in Dubrovnik-Neretva County to 97.4% in Virovitica-Podravina County.
MPR vaccinations encompassed 89% but continued its negative trend. For example in 2016, 90% of children were vaccinated.
Even though MPR vaccinations are continuing to fall, there is still a high level of security of collective protection among school age children against measles, rubella and mumps the report said.
However, the ratio of sensitive pre-school children due to not being vaccinated is growing which presents a real threat of epidemics particularly in counties with a lower share of vaccinated children, like Dubrovnik-Neretva, Split-Dalmatia, Primorje-Gorski Kotar and Osijek-Baranja counties.
