CHARACTERISTICS OF RUBELLA EPIDEMIC IN TUZLA CANTON

Introduction: Rubella is an infectious disease of viral etiology. It occurs in two forms, as postnatal rubella and congenital rubella. Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the scope of the epidemic of rubella in Tuzla Canton (TK) in 2010, then the incidence of disease in certain segments of the population, spatial distribution and movement in time. Material and Methods: The target population of this retrospective study was people suffering from rubella in 2010 from the Tuzla Canton. Results and Discussion: From the topographical distribution of patients with rubella in Tuzla Canton there is a strikingly large difference in the number of affected municipalities. Temporal distribution of patients with rubella is congruent with the epidemiological characteristics of rubella in terms of reporting the same. Gender structure of patients showed significantly higher numbers in males with 437 patients (67.33%), while for women there were 212 cases (32.67%). According to the age structure, the majority of the persons infected were aged 15-19, 470 of them which makes 72.5% of the total number of patients. When it comes to the vaccination status of patients, 3.7% was fully vaccinated (got 2 doses of vaccine), 7.6% was incompletely vaccinated (got one dose of vaccine), 66.4% was unvaccinated and for 22.3% vaccine status is unknown.Conclusion: An outbreak of rubella in Tuzla Canton in 2010 and the emergence of a large number of people susceptible to rubella is a direct consequence of discontinuity of vaccination programs during the war from 1992 to 1995. Keywords: rubella, epidemic, Tuzla Canton