Measles in Chile and the importance of vaccination: HPM recommendations
On August 12, the Ministry of Health confirmed a case of imported measles in Chile, a viral disease that, thanks to constant vaccination campaigns, has been eradicated since 1993 in the country, so it does not represent a situation of concern. . However, for Dr. Loreto Twele, infectious disease pediatrician at Hospital Puerto Montt, the news calls for reinforcing measures against this infection.
Among them, the most important is to respect the vaccination schedule against measles, represented in Chile by the Triple Viral vaccine, which includes immunity against rubella and mumps in addition to measles, and is administered to boys and girls on two occasions: a 12 and 36 months, which is in the National Immunization Program and which is 95% effective, according to what Dr. Twele reinforced.
“Chile was one of the first countries to achieve a high vaccination rate against measles and that is why it was eradicated. The measles vaccine, which is a very good vaccine and which is applied in the first year of life and then at 3 years of age, prevents viral infection, which mainly causes a picture of high fever, pinkish skin rash, a picture similar to influenza with nasal congestion and headache, but that can have complications such as severe pneumonia,” recalled the pediatrician.
However, Dr. Twele stressed that, in Chile, despite having controlled this disease, there is a group of people born between 1971 and 1981 with only one dose of the measles vaccine. In fact, the reported case this month in Arica it was a woman corresponding to this age cohort and who made a trip to Armenia, a country where measles outbreaks are common.
“Those people are more susceptible to getting sick. Due to this, in Chile, every five years, reinforcement campaigns are carried out and the entire population is called to be administered said dose because we do not know who may be in this group that did not generate antibodies. The call is to participate every time there are booster measles vaccination campaigns,” said the professional, adding that the recommendation also applies to all those who travel abroad.
“Any person who is in this cohort, born between the years 71 and 81 who are going to travel outside of Chile, is told that they have to have a vaccine booster: without a medical order and only presenting their ticket at any vaccination station indicating that they will travel outside of Chile. We have eradicated the infection, but not so in the rest of the world, the United States, Europe and many underdeveloped countries have high rates of measles infection ”, he specified.
So the main call is to access vaccination, either in childhood in its two doses, in the first and third year of life; if you are traveling abroad, especially to countries with active measles cases, but especially if you were born between 1971 and 1981.
“For Chileans, the possibility of the infection spreading to the rest of the population is low thanks to the vaccines, but, in any case, we must be attentive to people who have been in contact with cases of measles and who present sore throats. head, skin rash, fever, nasal congestion should consult the Health Service”, concluded Dr. Twele.
2023-08-22 02:56:35
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