Bolivian education authorities in Santa Cruz have moved forward the winter recess, spanning now from June 30 through July 11, given the measles outbreak affecting the country. Other regions will continue with regular classes and follow the existing academic calendar, with their break set for July 7 to 18. Meanwhile, the cities of La Paz, El Alto, and Potosí, as well as several municipalities in Santa Cruz, have switched to online classes until the epidemic is under control, Education Minister Omar Véliz announced.
Given the recent identification of measles clusters and cases in the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an epidemiological alert on Thursday. Therefore, the World Health Organization's (WHO) continental subsidiary urged local governments to up their vaccination campaigns.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned this week of a 79% global increase in the number of cases of measles, a childhood illness caused by a virus that easily spreads among people and can be very harmful to children, of which over 300,000 detections were recorded last year.
An increase in measles cases in January and February 2022 is a worrying sign of a heightened risk for the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases and could trigger larger outbreaks, particularly of measles affecting millions of children in 2022, warn WHO and UNICEF.
Measles cases reached the highest level in 23 years in 2019 and health authorities warned that many countries aren’t vaccinating enough people amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an urgent call to action to avert major measles and polio epidemics as COVID-19 continues to disrupt immunization services worldwide, leaving millions of vulnerable children at heightened risk of preventable childhood diseases.
Mercosur health ministers will be holding an urgent meeting this week in Paraguay to address the spread of dengue, the outbreak of measles and the possible arrival of the China coronavirus to the region.
Measles is staging a devastating comeback in epidemics across the world as the virus exploits dangerous gaps in vaccination coverage, World Health Organization (WHO) experts said.
The Church of Scientology’s cruise ship Freewinds with 300 passengers aboard has been quarantined in port by the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia for measles after a female crew member was diagnosed with the highly contagious, preventable disease.
American health officials report that more than 700 people have been infected by measles this year, marking a 25-year high for the infectious disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday that cases had been recorded in 22 states and were mostly affecting unvaccinated children.