The results of the Costa Rican Institute of Research and Education in Nutrition and Health (Inciensa) confirmed on Thursday that 2 minors, between 3 and 9 years, are the new cases of measles imported into the country.
The suspicions were announced on Wednesday by the Ministry of Health after the children, of American parents, presented the symptoms of the disease and also their managers reveal that they were close to a US citizen with the virus who was visiting the country and It came out last March 12th, 2019.
The samples of 2 other brothers are pending, although the minister of the sector, Daniel Salas, pointed out that it is highly probable that they will test positive. These 4 minors are of American parents, residents in the country, and are isolated in their house since that Wednesday in Cóbano, Puntarenas.
In addition to domiciliary isolation, the health authorities and the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) are in search of possible contacts of patients with other persons to carry out the respective vaccination, if necessary.
The Minister of Health indicated that the situation of these minors is not related to the French family that was diagnosed with measles on February 21st at the Monseñor Sanabria Hospital in Puntarenas and that recently left the country. These Europeans were the 1st case imported since 2014.
This virus is transmitted by drops of saliva, mainly through coughing and sneezing. Symptoms are fever, nasal congestion, cough, conjunctivitis, skin rash that starts in the head and expands in the body, especially if the person who has these symptoms has been in the last 20 days in countries with measles transmission.
Currently, in the country, the CCSS is carrying out a measles vaccination campaign that reached 94% of children between 15 months and 10 years of age at the beginning of March. In total there are 723,800 minors who have been vaccinated, of 770 thousand in the crosshairs.
