Health Ministry Confirms 2,753 Measles Cases in Brazil, 2,708 in São Paulo State

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Health Ministry reported yesterday, September 4th, that from June 9th to August 31st, 2,753 cases of measles were confirmed in Brazil. In that period, there were four deaths due to the complication of the patients’ health condition, three in São Paulo and one in Pernambuco. According to Health Surveillance Secretary Wanderson Oliveira, three of the deaths were babies under the age of one.

Compared to the information released on Wednesday, August 28th, there was an increase of 18% in the number of people infected.

In total, the ministry received notification of 20,292 suspected cases of the disease, of which 2,109 were discarded. The rest are still under investigation. The confirmed cases are concentrated in 13 states, with the overwhelming majority (98.37 percent) of confirmed cases (2708) in the state of São Paulo, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 15 confirmed cases.

Vaccinations

As a priority, the federal government has established the obligatory vaccination of all children aged between 6 months and 11 months and 29 days, a group for which the disease can easily become lethal. In this case, the so-called zero-dose is applied.

Another recommendation is that children receive the first dose when they reach 1 year of age. The second dose, the last to be taken for life, is given at 15 months of age.

According to Oliveira, an estimate calculated in partnership with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) indicates that 39.9 million Brazilians are unprotected against measles because they have not received any dose of the vaccine. To measure the population without vaccination coverage, the study analyzed information that covers the period from 1994 to July 2019.

During a press conference, Oliveira reported that last week the government obtained 17.8 million doses of measles vaccine. He stressed that, in the international market, four laboratories produce the vaccine and that, in Brazil, there is only one supplier, the Institute of Technology in Immunobiology (Bio-Manguinhos), of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ).

About the disease

Caused by a virus, measles is a serious infectious disease that can lead to death. Transmission occurs by air, i.e. when the infected person coughs, talks, or breathes close to other people.

Even when the patient does not die, there is a possibility that the infection will cause irreversible conditions. When the disease occurs in childhood, the patient may develop pneumonia, acute encephalitis, and acute ear damage that may cause permanent hearing loss.

The symptoms of measles are fever accompanied by cough, eye irritation, runny or clogged nose, and intense malaise. After three to five days, red spots may appear on the skin of the patient.

The prevention of measles through vaccination is fundamental since there is no treatment for the disease. The type of vaccine varies according to the age of the person to whom it is given and the epidemiological situation of the region where they live.

Recently, Brazil lost the certificate of elimination of the disease. Last week, four European countries started to present a similar condition: the United Kingdom, Greece, the Czech Republic, and Albania. According to the Ministry of Health, in the first half of this year, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine had 78 percent of the cases registered in Europe.