2024-08-26 19:01:38
However, the Ministry of Health made it clear that there is no outbreak of meningitis in Chile, explaining that the detected cases are not related to each other.
The Ministry of Health (Minsal) issued a national epidemiological alert due to an increase in cases of meningitis in the country, after seeing a rise in infections in May and June, where 20 infected people were detected.
The Secretary of State explained that This alert allows for increased surveillance in various public and private health centres. in the face of unusual behavior of this disease, in order to act in prevention and treatment.
However, The Minsal made it clear that there is no outbreak of meningitis in Chile, explaining that the detected cases are not related to each other, as explained by the Undersecretary of Public Health, Andrea Albagli.
“We are not talking about an outbreak because there is no epidemiological link between each of these cases, but there is an increase at the national level compared to previous periods. The measure we took was this epidemiological alert to reinforce surveillance measures in our health network and also vaccination strategies associated with meningococcal diseases,” the health authority said.
Nationwide, there are 40 cases of meningitis detected, which causes inflammation of the tissues surrounding the spinal cord and brain, In certain cases it is fatal, and its main route of transmission is the secretion of infected people.
Since 2014, the National Immunization Program has had vaccines against meningitis, which are given to infants between 2 and 4 months old, as well as to children under one year of age.