The department of Cochabamba, considering all the municipalities, is free of measles and poliomyelitis. The authorities of the Departmental Health Service (SEDES) assured that the work is continuous.
The general coordinator of the SEDES Directorate, Osvaldo Marcelo Castro, participated this Saturday in the ‘Voces de la Llajta’ program and reported on the international certification of Cochabamba free of measles and poliomyelitis that the department received in previous days.
Castro explained that the issue of prevention is a continuous work that is carried out at the local, national and international level with regard to vaccination and epidemiological surveillance of these diseases that are preventable by the immune system.
He explained that in April, when the week of the Americas began, vaccination was intensified and work began for certification for the eradication of polio and the elimination of measles, rubella, and congenital rubella.
He clarified that this refers to the fact that there are no cases for years and that vaccination coverage is greater than 95%.
The General Coordinator of the SEDES Directorate recalled that the last cases of polio date back to 1985. In order to avoid more cases, high vaccination coverage is maintained, “trying not to drop below 95%, which ensures that we do not have those diseases again.
VERIFICATION AND RESULTS
Therefore, from time to time verification is carried out. A commission arrives that, in this case, was international. From the SEDES it was detailed that this was supervised by international observers from PAHO and Unicef and qualifying teams from the interior of the country. The result was a qualification percentage of 99% for measles and 98% for polio.
The work since April involved house-to-house sweeps, looking for children ages 2 to 5 who have not been vaccinated. Each health center and network implemented strategies to arrive at homes at appropriate times.
“And despite the (positive) figures that have been observed in the monitoring, the work continues,” said Castro.
Coverage, in recent years, maintained its level, although there were drops due to the coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19.
RECOMMENDATION
Castro recalled that vaccines protect. Regarding the effects on children, such as fever, he explained that the effects of a vaccine compared to those of a disease “are nothing.”
“Thanks to vaccines, diseases such as smallpox were eradicated. The same is now happening with measles, poliomyelitis and rubella, which are no longer occurring (…). They are safe vaccines that go through a verification process (…), they have that certainty that they will protect against diseases,” Castro said.
The head of epidemiology of SEDES, Rubén Castillo, also asked the population, parents, to be attentive to the vaccination schedule of their children and take them to the health centers, when it is their turn to receive the vaccines and their reinforcements.
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2023-07-15 14:41:30
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