Publication

Resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases in Venezuela as a regional public health threat in the Americas

Authored by:

Paniz-Mondolfi AE, Tami A, Grillet ME et al.

Full Citation:

Paniz-Mondolfi AE, Tami A, Grillet ME et al. 2019. Resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases in Venezuela as a regional public health threat in the Americas. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 25(4).

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Additional key concepts from this publication:

Importation of diseases across international borders are a threat to domestic disease control.

Key Evidence: The humanitarian emergency in Venezuela, and resulting collapse of its primary health care infrastructure, has caused measles and diphtheria to reemerge — disproportionately affecting indigenous populations — and spread to neighboring countries. This sets the stage for the potential reemergence of polio. The re-establishment of measles as an endemic disease in Venezuela (with >5,500 confirmed cases) and its spread to neighboring countries threaten the measles-free status.

Conflict and migration can lead to disease outbreaks in diseases previously controlled or eliminated and jeopardize disease control efforts.

Key Evidence: The humanitarian emergency in Venezuela, and resulting collapse of its primary health care infrastructure, has caused measles and diphtheria to reemerge — disproportionately affecting indigenous populations — and to spread to neighboring countries. This sets the stage for the potential reemergence of polio. The re-establishment of measles as an endemic disease in Venezuela (with >5,500 confirmed cases) and its spread to neighboring countries threaten the measles-free status.