Buenos Aires City and Province measles cases trigger joint gov’t response

Buenos Aires City and Province measles cases trigger joint gov’t response

“We must raise our guard and vaccinate all the people who should be vaccinated,” Quirós said

Following the confirmation of 11 measles cases, 7 in Buenos Aires City and 4 in Buenos Aires province, Argentina’s Health Ministry launched a “focused vaccination strategy” targeting high-risk areas, particularly the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA). Measles, a highly contagious and potentially deadly viral disease, primarily affects young children and immunocompromised individuals, with vaccination as the only prevention method.

The strategy, endorsed by the Federal Health Council (COFESA) and the National Immunization Commission (CONAIN), includes vaccinating children aged 6-11 months with an extra dose of the double viral vaccine, children aged 13 months to 4 years with MMR if unvaccinated, and boosting adolescents, adults, close contacts, and travelers with MMR or double/triple viral doses based on availability.

For infants under 6 months exposed to the virus, immunoglobulins will be used. The outbreak, linked to travelers reintroducing the virus, has prompted concerns about declining vaccination rates post-pandemic.

Buenos Aires City Health Minister Fernán Quirós emphasized the urgency of reinforcing the vaccination schedule, noting the virus’s high contagiousness and the availability of vaccines at public health centers to curb the spread and prevent local circulation. “The MMR is essential”, he explained.

“We are free of local circulation, but we are not exempt from entry by travelers. It can be introduced in the City because it is the international port of entry,” he added.

“Contagion has a lot to do with it and it is avoided according to the vaccination rates, which post-pandemic lost an important proportion. We have the Triple Viral vaccine, which should be applied to all children when they turn one year old and then the booster at five years of age,” the minister went on.

Boosters can be applied at any time and any age, he also pointed out. Those who have doubts as to whether or not they received the dose can have another application, Quirós further noted. “Together with the national Health Ministry, we are defining a complementary campaign beyond the calendar for the outbreak sites: on those two doses, the Government will provide double viral vaccines to carry out a supplementary campaign. In addition, all close contacts will receive vaccines or immunoglobulins, depending on what corresponds,” he underlined.

Quirós also told LN+ Tuesday that the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA) was deploying Mobile Sanitary Units to the most affected neighborhoods. “The first case occurred with an Argentine-Russian family that traveled abroad and reintroduced the virus in Comuna 14. Two adults in the same neighborhood had contact with these children: one of them was not infected, but the other infected his 6-month-old baby. They live in Florencio Varela and infected two more people there,” the official stressed.

Measles “is one of the most contagious viral diseases. It has a component similar to Covid-19: from the moment of the outbreak, the patient is contagious four days before and four days after. The virus floats in the air, if the place is not well ventilated, the air can be contaminated up to two hours after the person has left the place. You can enter an empty room and become infected,” Quirós also warned.

“We had a 94% vaccination rate, which is recommended. After Covid, and with all the discussion generated by the vaccines, we are now 15 points below what we should be to be protected,” he regretted. “We must raise our guard and vaccinate all the people who should be vaccinated,” he said.