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(PRESS RELEASE) – The Department of Health and Wellness is taking a proactive approach to controlling the spread of the measles virus by educating health care professionals around the island.
Health professionals were able to obtain information on the guidelines for the prevention and control of the measles virus through a recent awareness-raising workshop.
Dr. Sharon Belmar-George, Medical Officer of Health, said that although St. Lucia has been measles-free since 1990, there is a need for health workers to be sensitized to surveillance measures in order to allow rapid interventions if are identified.
Dr. Belmar-George
"The measles vaccination program began in 1982 and our last documented case of measles in St. Lucia was in 1990. So, as you can imagine, most of our health workers do not have the measles immunization program. have not seen or managed the case of measles. Given what is happening in the region and around the world, we note that the threat of a measles epidemic is very similar. So we take a very proactive step to ensure that all our health workers are up to date and sensitized can be detected early if we have an imported case of measles arriving on the island. "
Dr. Belmar-George said it was important that children be protected against measles by being vaccinated.
"We have found that in the last five to ten years, some parents have chosen not to vaccinate their children. Thus, children who have not been immunized are at risk. Measles is a viral disease, an acute illness and one of the most infectious agents you can contract; it is therefore sufficient that a person with measles virus goes to St. Lucia, or that a person from St. Lucia who has not been fully immunized, goes to an area where there is an outbreak and would now put people who have not yet done so. receiving their full vaccine program or not being immunized, which could lead to such a disease. "
The medical doctor asks the parents to review their child's health card and ensure that it is updated.
As part of the immunization program, the Department of Health and Wellness will administer the measles vaccine free of charge.
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