Podgorica, 12 January 2023 (MIA) — Montenegro's Institute of Public Health has once again urged parents to vaccinate their children against the measles virus because the low uptake of the MMR vaccine has brought the country to the verge of a measles epidemic, according to a press release.

Pointing to a growing measles outbreak in the region, Montenegrin epidemiologist Milena Popović Samardžić said it was so contagious that only one infected person could infect 12 to 18 susceptible people.

“Measles is a respiratory infection. The virus is transmitted by direct contact and through the air. Particles containing the virus are expelled by coughing, sneezing and talking. These particles, which we then inhale, remain in the air for up to two hours.

“Simply passing through a hallway or a closed space that an infected person was in — even before they knew they were infected as they are contagious four days before and four days after developing symptoms — is enough to inhale these particles,” Popović Samardžić told Podgorica’s Adria TV explaining the airborne transmission of the virus. mr/