Health Officials Respond to Imported Measles Case in Punta Gorda

Health officials are closely monitoring a confirmed case of measles in Belize, linked to travel from Guatemala. The Ministry of Health says the patient has since been identified and is stable, while teams on the ground are working to contain any possible spread through vaccination and contact tracing, particularly in Punta Gorda, where the case was detected. We spoke with Dr. Freisen for more.

 

Dr. Laura Friesen, Acting Deputy Director, MOHW

“So we had a case that identified on Friday of last week. It was a person that had traveled over to Guatemala very recently and then came back into the country and presented with symptoms very soon afterward. The patient is stable, doing well. All quarantine and isolation recommendations are being followed, and we have done ring vaccination, meaning that we vaccinate anyone who is not immune that might have had contact with that person. So, we are doing a massive undertaking in PG, especially because that’s the area that the patient was identified and the residence of the patient. Measles is really quite a miserable illness to have. You know, I’ve seen a few cases now in Belize this last year and it’s not fun. So, I would suggest that anyone who is uncertain of their vaccination status or who hasn’t gotten a measles vaccine to please go to a health facility and get the measles vaccine. It’s a very effective vaccine. It is given in Belize to one-year-olds, and then a second dose is given at 18 months. If you are an adult or over the age of 18 months, you can get two doses one month after the other.”

 

Officials stress measles is preventable with the MMR vaccine, and urges anyone unsure of their status to get vaccinated.    

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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