After the announcement of an economic and health emergency declaration in Colombia by the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro, the Ministry of Health reiterated the call to citizenship to be vaccinated against the disease.
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Thus, people can immunize from 9 months of age and even adults over 59 can also do so.
This alert was issued, after the figures delivered by the Ministry of Health were announced that between September 2024 and the date, 75 cases and 34 deaths have been confirmed in the country, which It represents a accumulated lethality of 45.3%.
Yellow fever vaccination
Source: Mayor’s Office of Bogotá – Official page
In which areas of the country are the reported cases?
According to the information of the health portfolio, the cases are distributed in nine departments. To date, cases of yellow fever have been confirmed in the departments of Tolima (59 cases), Putumayo (7), Nariño (2), Caquetá (2), Huila (1), Vaupés (1), Cauca (1), goal (1) and Caldas (1). The deaths associated with the disease have been recorded in eight departments: Tolima (23 deaths), Putumayo (5), Caquetá (1), Nariño (1), Caldas (1), Cauca (1), Huila (1) and goal (1).
“The outbreak has shown a progressive expansion, especially in areas of the Amazon basin, the Magdalena River and in departments such as the goal, in a short period of time. In addition, cases have been presented in territories where historically they had not registered, such as the municipality of Neira, Caldas, located in the coffee zone”highlighted the Ministry of Health.
It should be noted that since 1929 urban transmission of yellow fever had not been reported in Colombia, there is a potential risk of reemergency, due to the frequent income of people to enzotic areas – where the virus circulates in its wild cycle through mosquito species of the genres Sabethes and Haemagogus – and its subsequent displacement to urban areas located below 2,200 meters above the sea level, where they live Transmitter species of the urban cycle such as Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.
“Epidemiological monitoring has identified cases in populated centers and urban peripheries of municipalities with low population density, which demonstrates the risk of expansion towards larger urban centers”he said.
Yellow fever
GOVERNMENT OF THE META
What measures have been adopted?
After this increase in cases of yellow fever, 10 measures were implemented from the national government in order to control the health situation in the country.
The first of these is mass vaccination, this will begin in high -risk municipalities and will then be extended to the entire national territory. It is worth mentioning that the vaccine is free, safe and applied in a single dose and should be administered 10 days before entering risk areas.
It can be vaccinated through different strategies, one of them is the house home, in educational institutions, transport terminals, military and police facilities and other collective spaces.
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The second measure is the intensification of the actions to control the mosquito in homes, communities, establishments providing health services and high influx spaces such as market places and terminals. Toldillos will also be distributed in rural areas with high risk.
A third strategy is focused on an immediate displacement of the basic health teams and immediate response equipment. There will be centralized management of health services. EPS are obliged to dispose of all mechanismsa national hospital alert will be presented: which activated a yellow hospital alert throughout the public, private and mixed network of the national territory.
There will be restrictions on mobility, so that local authorities may implement access restrictions on areas with active virus transmission, following protocols and in coordination with police forces. The International Vaccination Card for Travelers will also be required, a culture of prevention will be implemented and as a tenth measure will be integrated Risk Management Committees.
Portfolio
