The number of measles cases has risen to 23 in Portugal, with six cases still under investigation, according to the Directorate-General for Health (DGS).
Three new cases of measles were confirmed last week, two in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region and one in the north, according to Epidemiological Bulletin No. 8 – Measles Epidemic Activity in Portugal 2024, released on Tuesday.
Of a total of 169 suspected cases reported between January 1 and April 21 this year, 140 were ruled out.
The majority of cases were registered in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, where 14 cases were confirmed, followed by the North, with seven, and the Central region and the autonomous region of Madeira, both with one case.
According to the health authority, four patients required hospitalization and no deaths were recorded.
The first of the confirmed cases was a 20-month-old baby who was not resident in Portugal and had not been vaccinated.
The DGS warns of the importance of vaccination against measles in accordance with the National Vaccination Program, which recommends two doses for children and adults born after 1970.
According to the Directorate-General for Health’s Annual Vaccination Summary Report 2024, released on Tuesday, measles vaccination met and exceeded the national and international target of 95%, “reinforcing protection with the aim of preventing or limiting outbreaks”.
He adds that “the recommended vaccination at two months of age is met, but there is a fringe of 17% to 19% of children who remain susceptible to measles and meningococcal C disease at 13 months of age”.
For the DGS, the “95% target is critical for measles, because it is highly transmissible and because these children attend pre-school establishments, which facilitate its transmission”, and it therefore argues that this is “an indicator to be improved”, for example by raising awareness among parents or legal guardians of minors to comply with the recommended vaccination at 12 months.
As part of its measles epidemiological surveillance activity, the DGS stresses the importance of immediately notifying suspected cases on the computer platform supporting the National Epidemiological Surveillance System (SINAVE), in accordance with the current legal framework, guaranteeing timely intervention to reduce chains of transmission.
