The Canary Islands Ministry of Health has insisted this Friday on the need to get vaccinated against measles to prevent the transmission of the disease, after detecting an outbreak with four people affected, including minors who are not old enough to be vaccinated, one who is of vaccination age, and an adult.
This is a disease for which no new cases had been reported for years and that has returned to be present in the Canary Islands with this case that began in a minor who was not properly vaccinated.
Measles is a febrile exanthematic disease that begins with fever, nasal congestion, cough and sometimes small erythematous spots with a whitish center may appear on the oral mucosa, it is explained in a statement.
The exanthema, which appears between the third and seventh day after the onset of symptoms, begins on the face and spreads throughout the body.
It is very contagious and is transmitted through the air through droplets or by direct contact with infected people.
In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Spain a country free of endemic measles transmission due to the few cases and outbreaks identified.
However, cases have recently been reported in nine autonomous communities and five of them have registered outbreaks, the Ministry of Health has recalled.
Until the first week of May, 42 confirmed cases of measles had been reported in Spain.
In the Canary Islands, an outbreak with three confirmed cases in children under 2 years of age and 407 contacts has been reported, with whom the General Directorate of Public Health has communicated to check their vaccination status and inform them of measures in case of starting with symptoms.
The measles vaccine is administered in two doses, at 12 months and three years, and 95 percent of the Canarian population is properly vaccinated in the first year of life.
The General Directorate of Public Health insists that the vaccine is the most effective means to avoid contracting or transmitting measles.
A measles outbreak with 4 cases detected in the Canary Islands
The Ministry of Health insists on the need to get vaccinated against measles to prevent the transmission of the disease
