Peru discovers first case of native measles since 2000

After more than two decades Peru announced a first case this Friday measles Local when the disease was confirmed in a baby in Lima, the Ministry of Health stated.

“Peru has not had its own case of measles since 2000. The cases we registered were imported,” the president of the National Institute of Health, Víctor Suárez, told the press.

“This is a wake-up call for the entire country and all families so that they can complete their vaccination systems,” Suárez said.

The last indigenous case in Peru occurred in 2000 in Callao, a port city next to Lima.

The new case that caused alarm concerns a 10-month-old baby who lives in Lima. Doctors have conducted screening tests on the 21 people who have been in contact with her in the last week.

On January 29, the Ministry of Health confirmed the first imported case of measles in a 21-year-old young man who was infected during a trip to Europe.

“We are facing the likelihood of a reintroduction of measles,” Deputy Health Minister Ricardo Peña told reporters.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), measles saw a significant global increase in 2023, particularly in Europe, but so far in the 21st century the disease had disappeared from Peru’s radar.

This viral disease is extremely contagious, more so than Ebola or the flu, for which there is no cure.

According to the WHO, between 2020 and 2022, more than 1.8 million newborns in the region were not vaccinated against this disease.

SPRING: AFP

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