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On Friday, the national measles and rubella surveillance campaign comes to an end and the goal is still far from being reached. More than 600,000 children aged 13 months to 4 years have not even received the extra dose of the triple viral vaccine applied in a free and compulsory in hospitals and health centers across the country.
According to the latest report of the Ministry of Health, in eight weeks they were applied 2,194,569 of the 2,817,000 doses planned for the target population. The coverage is about 78%, far from the expectations at the beginning of the campaign (it was expected to reach 80% the first month), so the health authorities reinforce the call to incite the children to get vaccinated.
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The city and province of Buenos Aires are the jurisdictions in which the worst coverage is recorded so far, with 72% and 66%, respectively. This is to say that in the capital, they remain vaccinated one in four and in the province, one in three children. The rest of the country, with the exception of Tierra del Fuego (74%) and Santa Cruz (76%), already exceeded 80%. The example is given by Jujuy, Corrientes and Chaco, who have already exceeded 95% (Jujuy has even reached more than 99%).
"It is very important to recognize all the actions and all the sacrifices that the vaccination team has been able to make in all jurisdictions of the country, in a sacrificial way, because we know that this implies a strong vocation"Said Cristian Biscayart, head of the Immuno-preventable Disease Control Directorate (DICEI)," he extended the recognition to those who brought their children to vaccinate "because they understood very well the importance of this extra dose of vaccine"and stressed that it" is very important that those who have not yet taken it do nowadays, which are lacking, to achieve greater coverage than today. "
In the city of Buenos Aires, Friday, vaccinations will not be open For the holidays organized by the G20 Summit, tomorrow will be the last day of application in the Buenos Aires region.
As confirmed at Clarin from the Ministry of Health, the campaign will not be extended. However, once the strategy is finalized, each province will monitor unvaccinated children. From there, in areas of high concentration, tourism and low coverage, the implementation of complementary measures immunize those who have not been vaccinated during these two months.
The campaign is conducted every four years to maintain the elimination of measles and rubella in the country. An additional dose of the triple viral vaccine is applied – independently of that established by the schedule – to all children from 13 months to 4 years, 11 months and 29 days. Thus, it seeks to reduce the group of sensitive subjects that accumulates year after year, consisting of unvaccinated children in the regular program and those in whom the vaccine did not provide adequate protection (it is estimated that 10% do not do it). produces the necessary immunity).
In the last two seasons, in 2014 and 2009, coverage of 82% and 98%, respectively, had been achieved.
The vaccine is applied free of charge in all health centers and public hospitals in the country. The medical order is not requested except for immunocompromised children. Private vaccinations are also part of the strategy (you only need to present proof of identity for social work or prepaid having coverage in this center).
Maintaining immunization coverage above 95% is essential for to prevent the reintroduction of measles in the country, which reported in 2000 the last endemic case. So far this year, there have been 14 import-related cases. According to data from the Pan American Health Organization, there were 8,091 cases in 11 countries and 85 deaths in the region. Venezuela, with an active epidemic for more than a year, is the most affected, followed by Brazil and by far the United States.
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