The unvaccinated French boy who reintroduced measles in Costa Rica



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The interval between exposure to the virus and the appearance of a rash ranges from 7 to 18 days, according to the World Health Organization.

It is, according to the World Health Organization, a highly contagious and potentially lethal disease. And Costa Rica has not registered any cases since 2014. So far.

a Five year old French boy Those who traveled to Costa Rica with their parents reintroduced measles in the Central American country, which has not registered an autochthonous case since 2006 and has not imported anything since 2014.

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Costa Rican health authorities have established a plan of action to prevent the disease from spreading to the local population.

Control measures

The child and his family had to undergo period of seven days of isolation in the MonseƱor Sanabria Hospital, in the city of Puntarenas, under strict control measures: closed room with ventilation, negative pressure, restricted access and medical care under biosafety protocols.

Given the favorable evolution of the child, and after the seven days required by national and international regulations to prevent contagion to the population, authorities have determined the end of the quarantine period on Monday.

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Worldwide, it remains a leading cause of death in young children despite the fact that there is a safe and effective vaccine.

According to the Ministry of Health, the child arrived in the country on February do not have specific vaccines against measles.

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Health authorities also tried to locate all the people who could have been in contact with the family, among them the 300 passengers who traveled with them aboard the Air France flight with which they arrived in the country and the people of the hotel where the child and his parents stayed the first day.

In total, according to the latest available information, 104 people have already been vaccinated.

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The country has not registered a case of autochthonous measles since 2006 and the last was imported and occurred in 2014.

The Costa Rican authorities also said that they have contacted France so that those who may have been in contact with the child are located and informed.

The parents explained to the hospital staff that some friends of the minor with whom he had contact also had measles.

A contagious virus and expansion

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), measles is a very contagious and serious disease caused by a virus of the paramyxovirus family.

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Most deaths occur in children younger than 5 years of age, especially vulnerable to the virus.

Throughout the world, one of the leading causes of death in young children, despite the fact that there is a safe and effective vaccine. In 2017, the disease killed 111,000 people around the world and there was a 30% more cases than the previous year, according to WHO data.

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The majority of deaths are due to complications derived from the disease, which can lead to blindness, encephalitis (infection accompanied by cerebral edema), severe diarrhea (which can cause dehydration), ear infections and other respiratory diseases such as pneumonia.

In countries where measles has been virtually eliminated, the organization says, cases from other countries remain a major source of.

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