Asunción, Feb 10 (Prensa Latina) The Paraguayan Ministry of Public Health urged today to be alert to possible measles symptoms in the country and urged completion of the vaccination schedule for children.
The director of the Expanded Immunization Program, Héctor Castro, explained at a press conference that a confirmed case in Paraguay already represents an outbreak of the disease, taking into account the low inoculation coverage.
After recalling that on January 26 the health portfolio issued an alert with the detection of the first infected person in the country in 25 years, Castro said that in the presence of fever, skin rash, cough, and runny nose, doctors must rule out chikungunya. , dengue or measles.
He noted that the country promoted a campaign in 2022 to apply to infants, between six months and six years of age, the bivalent oral vaccine against poliomyelitis, as well as the triple viral vaccine against measles, rubella and mumps.
In this regard, he specified that official figures indicate that to date 66 percent coverage against measles, rubella, and mumps has been achieved, and 69 percent in the case of poliomyelitis.
For this reason, he urged to intensify vaccination against measles and commented that the municipalities of Capiatá and Areguá, in the Central department, as well as Hohenu and Encarnación, in Itapúa, have a greater number of suspected cases.
