16 Venezuelans with measles went to see a doctor in Brazil

Caracas .- The displacement of Venezuelan citizens in Brazil due to the socio-political and economic crisis facilitated the measles epidemic, which resurfaced in the first of these countries. 39, last year, began to spread in the Brazilian Territory. The exodus of Venezuelans with the disease is further accentuated by the need for medical assistance that they do not receive in their nation. The latest epidemiological bulletin of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, which contains data on the measles situation up to July 23, 2018, notes that 16 citizens with measles, residing in Venezuela, were treated in health centers. health of the state of Roraima: 15 they came from Bolívar and 1 from Zulia

This group of Venezuelans increases the number of cases reported with measles by the Ministry of Health of Brazil in the state Roraima, between February 14, 2018 and July 23, 2018 Specifically, the health authorities reported in this state 423 suspected cases of the disease, of which 272 were confirmed with the virus. Of this total number of people who contracted the viral infection, 190 are Venezuelan (69.68%) .

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The highest number of Venezuelans with measles is concentrated in the municipality of Boor Vista, in Roraima. Of the 272 confirmed cases, 129 (47.4%) are in this jurisdiction of the entity. It is in Boa Vista that on February 14 the first case of measles arrived from Venezuela after two years without registering new people affected by the disease in the country was reported. It was a one year old baby who had not received a vaccine against the virus.

The epidemiological report indicates that among Venezuelans, the largest number of cases is concentrated in the population aged 1 to 9 years. they should have received the two doses established by the Expanded Immunization Program of the Venezuelan Ministry of Health to avoid contracting the viral disease.

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Of the confirmed cases reported in Roraima, 148 are indigenous, 120 of which are Venezuelan. 25 other suspected cases of indigenous Venezuelan are the subject of an investigation by the health authorities. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) emphasized in its latest epidemiological alert on measles on July 20 that indigenous people are most vulnerable to the epidemic and has raised concerns about the risk that Warao ethnic groups settle between Venezuela and Guayana, and the Yanomami, located between Venezuela and Brazil.

In five months, the measles epidemic spread to other geographical areas of Brazil . In the state of Amazonas, where 4,410 suspected cases were reported, 519 were confirmed with the disease. In the results of laboratory tests, people who became ill had the presence of the D8 genotype of the virus, identified in Venezuelan patients in whom the disease had been diagnosed in the state of Bolívar . In the state of Amazonas, no cases of children or adolescents from Venezuela have been detected.

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In the federated units of Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Pará, Sao Paulo, Rondonia) a total of 31 confirmed cases with the virus have have been reported. Brazil registered its last cases of measles in 2015, and the following year it received the certification of the OPS which declared the territory free from the disease as Venezuela.

Venezuela concentrates more than 60% of all measles cases reported by 11 countries of the Americas to PAHO during the first half of 2018. The country has accumulated 2,569 confirmed cases since the disease resurfaced and exported 223 cases to Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru between February and July of this year. In addition, the country has recorded 97 deaths from the disease in a year of circulation of the epidemic. Among the dead add 53 natives of the Yanomami ethnic group of the municipality of Alto Orinoco, in the state of Amazonas.

The national government proposes to start a second phase of the national immunization plan from the month of August. The technical cooperation of PAHO, an organization that has asked Venezuela for urgent measures to stop the spread of the virus, which currently circulates in all states of the national territory.