18 children affected by measles, doctors raise the alarm: vaccinate young children, do not put their health at risk

After a confirmed measles case in a 3-year-old child in Tirana, the Institute of Public Health is calling on parents not to avoid vaccination.

Rovena Daja, head of vaccination programming at the Institute of Public Health, told A2 CNN that the only way to prevent measles is vaccination. However, delaying the vaccine due to fears of autism or completely refusing it has led to 18 children being affected by measles during 2025.

There have been severe cases of this highly contagious disease, but fortunately no deaths have been reported.

The Institute of Public Health stated that following the investigation of the latest case, no other measles infections were identified.

The child’s parents were vaccinated, while the minor, who was unvaccinated, did not attend daycare or kindergarten.

According to the mandatory vaccination schedule, the measles vaccine is administered when a child turns one year old and again in the fifth year of life. However, in recent years vaccination coverage with the first dose has dropped significantly to 73%, and coverage with the second dose remains far below the 95% level required to stop the spread of measles, according to World Health Organization recommendations.

“KORÇA BOOM”