The Ministry of Health was alerted to a suspected case of the measles in Puntarenas. The tests will soon confirm if the diagnosis is correct. It is a five year old French boy who did not get vaccinated in his country.
He is isolated in the hospital and those he was in contact with will be screened for the disease and vaccinated to protect public health. French authorities were also alerted in order to carry out a similar operation in France with those he was in contact with there.
Costa Rica is currently holding a vaccination campaign to give an extra dose of the measles vaccine to all children aged 1 year and three months to just under ten years of age.
Measles is transmitted through saliva and easily spread through coughing and sneezing. The last indigenous case of measles in Costa Rica was in 2006 and the last imported one was in 2014.
