Colombia: Yellow fever death prompts red alert in Huila department
A confirmed case of yellow fever has prompted a red alert in eight municipalities of Huila department.
The 42-year-old patient, who lived in Campoalegre, died in the Hernando Moncaleano Perdomo University Hospital of Neiva.
The municipalities in which the Red Alert for yellow fever was declared are: Campoalegre, Rivera, Suaza, Acevedo, Guadalupe, Garzón, Algeciras and the dispersed rural area of the east of the city of Neiva.
OpenClipart-Vectors from PixabayThe Red Alert declaration is framed in the International Health Regulations as a preventive measure to protect public health and ensure a rapid and effective in the presence of communicable diseases, said the Secretary of Health of the department, Sergio Mauricio Zúñiga Ramírez.
According to Zúñiga Ramírez, the Red Alert preventive measure was taken according to guidelines from the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and the National Institute of Health, taking into account that these municipalities are at risk due to their geographic location adjacent to areas jungles of neighboring departments such as Caquetá.
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Epidemiologist of the Huila Health Secretariat, Viviana Carolina García Charry said, “The most effective preventive measure against yellow fever is vaccination, which forms part of the Expanded Immunization Plan and is already available in the vaccinating health care institutions (IPS) of the municipalities, and is aimed at the population of 1 to 59 years of age,” she explained.
She added that it is of great importance that all residents in the prioritized municipalities look for get vaccinated. Furthermore, she urged the population to be alert to the symptoms of the disease and to seek medical attention if they experience a high fever, severe muscle pain, persistent headache, vomiting, bleeding from the nose, gums or stomach, and yellowing of the skin.
“We not only want to prevent yellow fever, but that we want to prevent dengue fever, Chikungunya and Zika fever, which are diseases of the arbovirus group, transmitted by the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus”, expressed García Charry.
Although the Red Alert creates fear in the population, the officials clarified that the measure is preventive in nature and, on the other hand, that It has enough biologicals to carry out the vaccination sessions that are already in progress.
Andrea Fernanda Agámez, support professional of the Expanded Immunization Plan, referred that “since the notification of the case, different actions have been carried out regarding the vaccination, taking into account that it is the most effective way to control the disease; We have been working with municipalities categorized as high risk: Guadalupe, Suaza, Garzón, Algeciras, Rivera, Campoalegre, Acevedo and the dispersed rural eastern area from the municipality of Neiva,” she stated.
She also pointed out that there is support from the National Institute of Health, to hold training sessions with the Secretariat staff, with the purpose of detecting possible cases of the disease and at the same time vaccination sessions are being held in urban areas, house by house and in rural areas of the prioritized municipalities.
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“Also, taking into account that the positive case occurred in the middle of the holiday season, different action plans were generated from the municipalities, locating strategic points vaccination, in parks or places where there was going to be a greater influx of public,” she added.
In addition, she said that, together with the ministry, they have biologicals available to respond to vaccination. There are 10,450 doses in conservators in the prioritized municipalities and, apart from that, the other municipalities have the biological one.
Likewise, at the collection center there are 14,550 doses available to distribute, in order to continue with the vaccination plan, she added.
The vaccination record to date in the affected municipalities, once the positive case, according to figures provided by the Huila Health Secretariat, are: Rivera (1,096 doses applied), Campoalegre (798), Suaza (560), Garzón (509), Acevedo (498), Guadalupe (175), Neiva (156), Algeciras (115).
In total, 3,907 doses have been applied between June 18 and July 11, and there is a balance of 10,896 doses.
• In Colombia, between 2000 and 2019, 215 cases of yellow fever were confirmed and 795 probable cases were investigated.
• The accumulated fatality rate for the period between 2000 and 2019 was 51.2%.
• In 2024 there are seven confirmed cases, in: Putumayo (4), Nariño (1), Vaupés (1) and Huila (1).
• At the international level and specifically in the context of the Americas, cases recorded in 2023 include 41 cases: Peru (28 cases, 16 deaths), Brazil (6 cases, 4 deaths), Bolivia (5 cases, 2 deaths) and Colombia (2 cases).