An increase in cases of measles was first reported last year in Europe and some areas of the United States, but recently, several countries in Latin America have also raised the alarm; for this reason, health authorities in Costa Rica are on alert and have began promoting a vaccination campaign that will take place in August.

Maria Luisa Avila, specialists in the area of infectious diseases in the National Children’s Hospital, and Daniel Salas, director of Health Surveillance of the Health Ministry, commented on the importance of having parents confirm that their child’s vaccinations are up to date, specially when travelling to the countries in Latin America that have reported cases of measles: Venezuela, mexico, Peru, Guatemala, Colombia, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, Antigua and Barbuda, USA and Canada.

The last native case of measles in Costa Rica was reported in 2005 and the last imported case was reported in 2014.

“The fact that cases have been reported in so many countries of America forces us to strengthen our preventive measures. As an institution we have vaccination protocols in place that will always help prevent the disease and the same will remain active and will be strengthen to ensure that adults responsible for minors take them to the health centers to get the vaccine”, stated Dr. Leandra Abarca, coordinator of the Immunization Program of the Costa Rica Public Health and Social Security Administration (C.C.S.S)

In the event that cases are detected, measures are also in place to guarantee proper handling of the patient to avoid the propagation of the disease.

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 inflamed eyes.

The measles vaccine should be applied at 15 months of age, and at age 6 the child should receive a booster. This is part of the basic immunization program established by the CCSS which also includes rubella and mumps.

Measles vaccine has proven effective in preventing the disease resulting in a 75% decrease in deaths from the virus between 2000 and 2013.