“Zulia is the state with the most Covid-19 cases for three consecutive days, Diphtheria resurfaces in Venezuela”

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According to the official balance, in the last 24 hours, the total number of infections rose to 552,570 and the death toll remains at 5,856.

The vice president, Delcy Rodriguezreported via Twitter that On April 23, 5 new covid-19 infections were reported in the country: all due to community transmission. With these figures, the total number of infections rose to 552,570 and the number of deaths remains at 5,856.

«Zulia is the state that today #Apr 23 registers the most new cases (4), with active infections in 2 municipalities; It is followed by the entity: Caracas (1) », he tweeted.

Similarly, Rodríguez specified that there are 546,461 recovered patients (99%) and 253 active cases of covid-19.

Diphtheria resurfaces in Venezuela

The authorities confirmed on March 9 three diphtheria cases in Venezuela, specifically in the Bolívar state in the Sifontes Municipality of that entity, the same one in which The disease reappeared in 2016 after 24 years without a report.

The Diphtheria is a vaccine preventable disease.. But, just as it happened seven years ago, the low coverage in Venezuela once again influence its resurgence.

In 2016, vaccination coverage for the third dose of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) was 84%. Now it is much smaller.

“Currently, we have worse coverage in Venezuela, with 56 % for DTP3 in 2021, which is the lowest on the continent after Haiti, which has 51%,” warned the Venezuelan Society of Infectious Diseases it’s a statement.

The president of the Venezuelan Society of Child Care and Pediatrics, Aragua branch, Alejandro Crespo Freyes, specified that in our country only 56% of children have three doses of the diphtheria vaccine when they are one year old.

In Venezuela, it is generally used the pentavalent vaccine (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, H. influenzae type b and Hepatitis B) for boys and girls under seven years of age and vaccination diphtheria-tetanus toxoid (dT) in older than seven years and adults. Keep reading this note.