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Four entities in the country have a higher incidence of cases, including Delta Amacuro and the Capital District | File
Caracas .- The measles epidemic continues to be active in Venezuela and, since the reappearance of the viral disease in 2017, deaths have increased. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) noted that the country had reported 44 patients who died of the disease in three states of the country.
The latest epidemiological update of the OPS, July 20, indicated that after year of the reappearance of the virus, 33 patients died in Delta Amacuro; 7 in Miranda and 2 in the capital district. In addition, 53 cases of measles were recorded in the state of Amazonas, particularly in Yanomami indigenous communities. These latter deaths are the subject of an investigation to determine their relationship with measles.
Measles has spread in all states of the country. Since the disease resurfaced, the Ministry of Health has reported to PAHO a total of 7,233 suspected cases, of which 2,569 have been confirmed (2,340 per laboratory and 229 per epidemiological link). "On all cases, confirmed by the laboratory, 727 correspond to 2017 and 1613 to 2018," says the document.
The OPS reported that the states registering the most cases are the Capital District, Miranda, Bolívar and Delta Amacuro. In Delta Amacuro, the most vulnerable populations to the epidemic are the natives of the Warao ethnic group, while in Amazonas, they belong to the Yanomami tribe, who live in the municipality. Alto Orinoco, in the Amazon jungle located on the Venezuelan border and Brazil
In particular, in the Yanomami of Upper Orinoco, 126 confirmed cases of measles were notified between March and July 2018, which contradicts the information provided by Health authorities of Amazonas, who said that since the month of April only seven cases have been identified with the viral disease.
According to the document, 11 countries in the Americas accumulated 2472 confirmed cases with measles in the first six months of 2018. 65% of patients with the virus occurred in Venezuela. The country has imported more than 200 confirmed cases in four countries in South America (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru).
Due to the rapid spread of the disease and the risk it represents for other neighboring countries, PAHO has asked Venezuela to implement urgent measures to reduce the morbidity of measles. The agency pointed out that among the causes of the spread include "inadequate" coverage of vaccination against the virus and the neglect of epidemiological surveillance.
The Ministry of Health has implemented since November 2017, with technical badistance from PAHO a rapid response plan aimed at reducing the number of measles cases before it occurs one year after its reappearance in July 2017. The strategy aimed at indiscriminately immunizing the population, especially children. However, despite health policies, more Venezuelans without protection contracted the disease. The spread of the virus has been a setback for Venezuela because by accumulating more than 2,500 cases of viral infection in one year and continuing active transmission in the country, it has lost the recognition that the OPS him gave by declaring it free from measles. 2016.
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