The Ministry of Health announced that an “epidemiological notice” was issued to the population and hospital units to identify probable cases of measles or rubella, at the same time it reported that in the first week of February of this year a total of 140 probable cases of measles or rubella, so far without confirmed cases.
Within the recommendations of the epidemiological surveillance system, it is requested that vaccination be reinforced in municipalities that are corridors for the migrant population and in the border areas of the country.
When announcing epidemiological notice number 8, the federal agency said that from 2021 to December 2023, no confirmed cases of measles were reported.
In the “epidemiological notice” the secretariat said that on January 29, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an epidemiological alert of Measles in the Region of the Americas due to the increase in cases at a global level and the occurrence of imported cases.
During 2019, 5,163 probable cases of measles or rubella were reported, of which 20 cases were confirmed to be measles.
All were related to import, located in the states of Chihuahua (3), Mexico City (2), Guerrero (1), State of Mexico (2), Nuevo León (1), Querétaro (1), Quintana Roo (5 ), San Luis Potosí (1), Tabasco (3), Querétaro (1), reporting genotypes B3 and D8.
In 2020, 2,518 probable cases of measles or rubella were reported, of which 196 cases were confirmed to be measles, with an unknown source of infection, located in the States of Campeche (2), Mexico City (163), State from Mexico (30) and Tabasco (1), with genotype D8.
The secretariat said that measles is a highly contagious viral disease caused by the measles virus that belongs to the paramyxoviridae family of the morbillivirus genus.
He indicated that it is transmitted by dissemination of droplets suspended in the air or by direct contact with nasal or pharyngeal secretions of infected people.
A person may develop symptoms after an incubation of 7 to 21 days, with an average of 14 days.
The most common symptoms are fever, conjunctivitis, coryza, cough and small spots with a white or bluish-white center on an erythematous base on the mucosa of the vestibule of the mouth (Koplik spots.
“Severe cases are especially common in young, malnourished children, and especially in those whose immune system is weakened,” the notice states.
In populations with high levels of malnutrition and lack of adequate health care, fatality from measles can reach ten percent of cases.
The most frequent complications are otitis media, pneumonia, laryngotracheobronchitis and encephalitis, the result of the same viral replication or an added bacterial infection.
Among the measures suggested by the authorities of the epidemiological surveillance system in the country, they emphasized the need to “implement vaccination intensification activities to close the immunity gaps in high-risk municipalities, mainly those that are corridors of migrant population within the country and the border municipalities of the country.”
Preventive vaccination suggests starting intensively with the first dose of MMR vaccine for one-year-old girls and boys, the second dose at 18 months or 1 month after the first dose is administered.
Also for those who are or are close to turning six years old, as well as the population lagging behind in the application of the first, the second dose or both in the group of children under 10 years of age.
If available, the SR vaccine can be applied to adolescents between 10 and 19 years old.
In the event that measles cases are confirmed, surveillance actions must be strengthened with the rapid response team.
The health authorities asked to verify the adequate implementation of the epidemiological fence and vaccine blockade in the risk area
Identify routes and risk areas where the case or person has been during their period of transmissibility, as well as intensify the active population and institutional search for cases in risk areas, as well as follow up on all contacts and identification of the chain. of transmission in contacts and the affected community.
In order to confirm the cases, the suggestion is to prepare the corresponding epidemiological case study in the first 48 hours of detection and send it to the jurisdiction or health district for notification in the epidemiological system.
It is also suggested that in probable cases of measles or rubella: take blood and pharyngeal exudate samples in 100 cases and send them to the health jurisdiction or equivalent in a period of no more than 2 calendar days.
As of January 27, 2024, 12 cases of measles have been confirmed in the Americas region: The United States has reported nine confirmed cases of measles, including seven direct imports by international travelers: India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.