NEW SPREAD OF SARAMPION IN THE AMERICAN REGION

In 2017, four countries in the Region of the Americas reported confirmed cases of measles: Argentina (3 cases), Canada (45 cases), the United States of America (120 cases) and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (727 cases). In the first months of 2018 there are 9 countries that have reported confirmed cases: Antigua and Barbuda (1 case), Brazil (14 cases), Canada (4 cases), Colombia (1), United States of America (13 cases), Guatemala (1 case), Mexico (4 cases), Peru (2 cases) and Venezuela (159 cases). ⁽¹⁾

The spread of the virus to other geographical areas is explained, among other factors, by the high migratory movement of the population, generated by formal and informal economic activity around mining and commercial activity ⁽²⁾

The genotype identified in all cases in Brazil is D8. The same reported in Venezuela during the year 2.017, the same genotype was isolated in the cases of the United States, Colombia, and Canada who report cases imported or linked to import. ⁽³⁾

The WHO / PAHO, call on the authorities to hold Vaccination Days to stop the outbreak. It should be noted that, at present, the Venezuelan Government is conducting a national vaccination day, reports indicate: In Venezuela, vaccination coverage with the first dose of trivalent viral vaccine (12-18 months of age) has been unacceptably low and, however, the coverage of this first dose has been greater than with the second dose (4-5 years), which has been markedly insufficient. An estimated amount of close to 1 million children who have not received the measles vaccine in the last 8 years can be estimated. ⁽⁴⁾