There are at least 98 people who have had contact with the Russian family, who lives in San Javier, Uruguay, and who three weeks ago traveled with measles symptoms for nearly 72 hours across Argentina on three long-distance buses, through eight jurisdictions with stops that also picked up and dropped off passengers. With the exception of four foreigners, the remaining close contacts with whom the provinces have contacted are Argentinians and live in seven districts, which describes the territorial size that an outbreak of this highly contagious disease among these visitors could reach if it were to occur.
“The window in which the emergence of cases will be monitored is December 12,” stated the Epidemiology Department of the Ministry of Health in response to a request from THE NATION about the ongoing investigations related to the trip of the four travelers of this family, who traveled in three buses from Bolivia to Colón via the Retiro Terminal between the 14th and 16th of last month.
The group had traveled to two Bolivian cities to attend the wedding of an immediate relative of one of their parents, these media learned from Uruguayan sources who dealt with them. The first alert from Uruguay’s National Liaison Center for International Health Regulations reported a family of five with four confirmed cases of measles. Eventually the whole family was affected by the disease. These are mother and father as well as four children aged 21, 13, 14 and 9 years.
Virtual classes took place in two schools and a high school attended by children and young people from Colonia Ofir and San Javier to avoid new infections that could become normal this week. Local health authorities had to impose a vaccination blockade in the rural neighborhood of San Javier because residents refused to be vaccinated. Another local family that she had taken with her from Colón by car was also isolated and was being guarded in the house by police.
On this side of the Río de la Plata, just over ten days ago, the country’s Ministry of Health asked the health system to intensify surveillance against the consultation of people with fever (38 ° C or more) and the rash characteristic of the infection. As of last Friday, 98 people were on the close contact list of the five travelers and tracing of at least another 54 is continuing. The names were provided by the long-distance bus companies used by those infected, although Health noted the difficulty posed by the lack of a phone number or address in the data obtained.
“All contact persons will be searched by the responsible authorities and, if necessary, the vaccination plan will be completed. So far, no symptoms have been registered,” says the epidemiology section of the national portfolio. The usual procedure also includes follow-up care for quick advice if suspicious symptoms occur (in this case the deadline runs until the 12th of this month, as stated). If symptoms or suspicions appear, isolation measures are indicated for the family group, diagnostic tests are carried out and contacts are identified to verify vaccination and initiate the same surveillance procedure.
According to the provincial health ministries, the 98 people who have been able to contact the jurisdictions are 34 from the province of Buenos Aires, 22 from the city of Buenos Aires, 20 from Entre Ríos, 7 from Jujuy, 7 from Santa Fe, 3 from Salta, 1 who indicated having Tucumán and Santa Cruz as their residence, in addition to four foreigners who shared the trips.
At the weekend, the national ministry issued a new epidemiological alert following the confirmation of a case of measles. It is being investigated whether it is related to the travelers. He is a two-year-old minor from Santa Elena, Entre Ríos province. The family traveled to Casilda in Santa Fe on the 14th and 15th of last month. These dates coincide with the transfer of the group from Uruguay, which split in two to travel from Bolivia to the Retiro terminal between November 14 and 16. The route of one of the buses included transit through the Rafaela and Rosario terminals and through Santa Fe.
“Measles is a highly contagious disease that can only be prevented through vaccination. All children over 5 years of age must receive two doses of the triple virus vaccine. Each family must review their children’s vaccination schedules and inquire in their area of responsibility where they can receive the appropriate doses,” they reminded the Ministry of Health in dialogue with THE NATION regarding the current warning. “The national calendar doses have been procured, distributed and guaranteed throughout the country. Each province is responsible for applying them in its health centers and hospitals,” they continued.
They reiterated the importance of the population being aware of the occurrence of high fever, red spots on the skin, runny nose, conjunctivitis and cough. “If measles is suspected, the health system should be consulted immediately,” it said. This is in addition to the requirement from ten days ago that “every person who took part in one of the tours (from the family from Uruguay), regardless of their seat or the time they traveled on one of the buses,” go to the nearest health center wearing a mask if they have any of these symptoms and indicate that they have been in contact with confirmed cases of measles.
Endemic transmission of the measles virus in the country was interrupted in 2000 and since then the country has continued to be considered free of the disease. Losing that status puts regional certification at risk, as happened last month due to infections that Canada failed to stop a year ago, with more than 5,000 cases in an active outbreak. Mexico is experiencing a similar scenario. In Argentina, official records indicate that there were cases and outbreaks caused by travelers in these years.
In these 25 years, the outbreak that almost brought the country to the brink of losing its certification, always according to the epidemiological records that left a more or less strict management with the information, lasted six and a half months, between the last week of August 2019 and mid-March 2020. 179 cases were detected in the city of Buenos Aires and 19 municipalities in the province of Buenos Aires. In 2022, two more cases occurred, without contact with each other or without further information about the origin of the contagion: one in the city and another in the Vicente López district of Buenos Aires.
Starting last year, notifications began to increase. In January he was a 19-month-old baby in Salta without the vaccination schedule being up to date. The following month, two more cases were reported: a 6-year-old boy and his 13-month-old brother from Barcelona, Spain; In addition, they did not have the recommended vaccination. In October, Río Negro began reporting a dozen cases linked to three members of a Lamarque community who had traveled to Bolivia weeks earlier, in September. The outbreak ended with 11 cases; none were vaccinated.
There are 35 confirmed cases in the provinces so far this year. The majority belong to the chain of infections that has occurred since last January, after a family from a PH in the Buenos Aires district of Palermo returned from Russia with stops in other countries. None had been vaccinated against measles. The chain extended to the municipalities of Buenos Aires.
As the outbreak progressed, another case emerged who lived in Buenos Aires province and was infected with the virus during a trip to Thailand. This was followed by another case in San Luis involving a person who had traveled to Chihuahua, Mexico. In mid-May, two travelers arrived from England with measles.
After the alert due to the family’s travel from the Russian community of San Javier, Uruguay, Entre Ríos has now confirmed the case of the minor under 2 years old and it is expected that the Malbrán Institute will determine which genotype and virus lineage infected the minor.
About The Author
