So far this year 7000 cases of measles have been reported in the American continent, and out of these, 72 patients have died; for this reason the Costa Rica Public Health and Social Security Administration (C.C.S.S) and the Ministry of Health urge parents to vaccinate their children against this virus.
The alert is specially for children between the ages of 15 months and 10 years old. The Health Authorities in the country have organized an extraordinary vaccination campaign starting this December 12 and extending through February 8, 2019 to protect the vulnerable population, calculated in 770 thousand children in this age range.
Back in April this year the Health Authorities had also alerted over the increase on the number of patients in the United States and Latin America.
This is a preventive measure, since in Costa Rica the vaccination is applied to children 15 months of age, and at age 6 or 7 the child should receive a booster. This is part of the basic immunization program established by the CCSS which also includes rubella and mumps.
CCSS recommends that all children in the age range mentioned receive their vaccination whether they have or have not completed their vaccination protocol. It is also recommended that parents confirm that their child’s vaccinations are up to date, specially when travelling to the countries in America that have reported cases of measles: Venezuela, mexico, Peru, Guatemala, Colombia, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, Antigua and Barbuda, USA and Canada.
The importance of vaccinating resides in the fact that there is no specific treatment for measles, a highly contagious infection that is caused by a virus and that consists in a rash that generally starts on the face and quickly spreads to the rest of the body, other symptoms include high fever, runny nose, cough and swollen eyes.
Measles vaccine has proven effective in preventing the disease resulting in a 75% decrease in deaths from the virus between 2000 and 2013.
The last native case of measles in Costa Rica was reported in 2005.
The alert is specially for children between the ages of 15 months and 10 years old. The Health Authorities in the country have organized an extraordinary vaccination campaign starting this December 12 and extending through February 8, 2019 to protect the vulnerable population, calculated in 770 thousand children in this age range.
Back in April this year the Health Authorities had also alerted over the increase on the number of patients in the United States and Latin America.
This is a preventive measure, since in Costa Rica the vaccination is applied to children 15 months of age, and at age 6 or 7 the child should receive a booster. This is part of the basic immunization program established by the CCSS which also includes rubella and mumps.
CCSS recommends that all children in the age range mentioned receive their vaccination whether they have or have not completed their vaccination protocol. It is also recommended that parents confirm that their child’s vaccinations are up to date, specially when travelling to the countries in America that have reported cases of measles: Venezuela, mexico, Peru, Guatemala, Colombia, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, Antigua and Barbuda, USA and Canada.
The importance of vaccinating resides in the fact that there is no specific treatment for measles, a highly contagious infection that is caused by a virus and that consists in a rash that generally starts on the face and quickly spreads to the rest of the body, other symptoms include high fever, runny nose, cough and swollen eyes.
Measles vaccine has proven effective in preventing the disease resulting in a 75% decrease in deaths from the virus between 2000 and 2013.
The last native case of measles in Costa Rica was reported in 2005.
