YEREVAN, JULY 9, ARMENPRESS. The risk of spread of measles in the European countries is high, therefore specialists recommend to be vaccinated before traveling.

Gayane Sahakyan, deputy director of the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told a press conference in ARMENPRESS that the risk of spread of infectious diseases in the active tourism season is growing. Therefore, it would be right to have information about the spread of diseases while organizing travel abroad.

“And in order for the organized holidays not to be turned into a troubled situation, it will be right to be vaccinated beforehand if it hasn’t been done. Currently the European countries are risky in connection with the spread of measles, such as France, Germany, Bulgaria, Albania and Italy. The World Health Organization says this problem today exists in 47 out of 53 countries. There is no local circulation of measles virus in just 6 countries, one of which is Armenia”, she said.

According to the WHO data, there is a growth in spread of measles in all 6 regions. The growth in the first quarter of 2019 was 300%. The European region is the most active in terms of measles. Only in the first quarter of 2019, 125.000 measles cases were registered. 90 resulted in deaths. 4 imported measles cases from Ukraine and Georgia were documented in Armenia this year.

“We urge all travelers to have a vaccination against measles. If a person doesn’t remember whether he/she has been vaccinated or not, at least one dose is necessary before travelling. The healthcare ministry has an initiative, all medical facilities are allowed to make vaccinations for free to people up to 30 years old”, she said.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan