SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina—Medical experts are warning that the anti-vaccination lobby is growing in Bosnia, often using scientifically discredited arguments to stoke parental fears in the worst-affected country in Europe’s measles outbreak.
This trend — combined with a generation that could not be immunized because of lack of vaccines during Bosnia’s 1992-95 war — has led to 5,340 measles cases in Bosnia, according to the World Health Organization.
Bosnia’s immunization rate has also fallen to just 87 percent, according to its chief epidemiologist, Jelena Ravlija. That’s far below the 95 percent rate that health officials say is needed to prevent outbreaks.