By increasing measles, Mexico will issue US travel alert
As the United States Attempts to contain their worst outbreaks in the years, the cases have been poured into Mexico. In the April 25 report, the Mexican Ministry of Health reported that there were 583 approved this year, with 560 people registered in the Chihuahua border state. On April 27, the Chihuahua Health Secretariat reached the number of approved states to 713. In comparison, the Pan -American Health Organization reported only 7 approved cases in Mexico in 2024.
The outbreak of Chihuahua is partly due to its proximity to Texas, which is the north of the border. A major outbreak has been underway in the United States since late January, and cases in Mexico have been linked to the northern people of the border. The United States has recorded 884 measles approved this year, from 285 in 2024 and three deaths from the disease. There were 646 in Texas this year in the United States.
To prevent the spread of measles throughout Mexico, the Ministry of Health has issued a travel alert to the United States and Canada, where cases have also increased. The ministry advises travelers to be up -to -date with their vaccination, practice socially, mask, and wash your hands regularly.
The fall of vaccination level, like them in the United States, has helped increase Mexico’s cases. In 98 % of US cases this year, the patient – whether an adult or a child – did not have a history of vaccination against measles. In early April, a 31 -year -old man was reported to have died in Chihuahua without a background against measles.
Since measles are very contagious, high vaccination against it is 95 % – to prevent the spread of the virus in societies. But the vaccination rate in Mexico is broken. Children are supposed to receive two doses of measles vaccine, the first time between 12 and 15 months and second in the next few years. According to WHO, in 2023 only 76 percent of children under the age of 2 received measles vaccine in Mexico.
If the rates are not improved, it can again turn the disease into native North America. According to Stanford University’s epidemiologists, with the current level of vaccination in the United States, measles can restore itself and be in the country continuously over the next two decades. This will kill 2,500 people over the next 25 years.
In response to the urgent need to reverse the Mexican-reducing vaccination coverage, the Ministry of Health has begun a week of national vaccination, the first secretion campaign in the country since the Coveid-19 epidemic. From April 26 to May 3, the vaccine level is the most vulnerable group of measles: children from 1 to 9 years. The ministry hopes to inoculate 1.8 million children to update them by providing vaccines for free in hospitals, clinics, schools and health centers.
Measles are not the only disease targeted in Mexico: children over 4 years of age are also offered a DPT vaccine (diphtheria, radiation, and tetanus) and a pneumococcal amplifier is offered at 12 months. Teenagers, adults over the age of 60 and pregnant women are also invited to receive specific vaccines that they may also need.
Measles is a viral disease and is one of the most contagious in the world. More spread among children. The country is transmitted by contact with contaminated nasal or throat secretions through air and initially affects the respiratory tract. Symptoms include high fever, cough, high nose discharge and skin rashes that spread throughout the body. Complications can include blindness, encephalitis (brain inflammation), diarrhea, dehydration, ear infections and pneumonia. In severe cases, it can be fatal.
This story appeared first Wired en español And translated from Spanish.
