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GatoGordo

(2,412 posts)
Fri Nov 2, 2018, 06:00 AM Nov 2018

Diphtheria outbreak strikes Venezuela

Diphtheria reaches 22 Venezuelan states: PAHO registers 167 deaths in 2018
October 31, 2018

translated from Spanish



Diphtheria deaths continue to rise in Venezuela. According to data from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), deaths from this disease have increased 62% so far in 2018.

Since the epidemic began in July of 2016 to week 41 of this year (from 7 to 13 October), the country accumulated 287 deaths from the disease bacterial acute , according to the latest update Epidemiologic diphtheria PAHO published 29 October.

The specific bulletin that between January 1 and October 13, 2018 , the Ministry of Health notified 167 deaths due to the condition; that is, there were 86 more deaths than those recorded in the last report of the instance of September 21 , a considerable increase compared to 2016 and 2017, where there were 17 and 103 deaths, respectively.

PAHO also reported that the diphtheria outbreak has expanded from five states in 2016 ( Anzoátegui, Bolívar, Delta Amacuro, Monagas and Sucre ), to 22 states with confirmed cases in 2018.

The population most affected by this disease is the group from 1 to 39 years , where the highest incidence corresponds to children and adolescents between 5 and 14 years who should be immunized with three doses of the pentavalent vaccine and a diphtheria toxoid booster .

The official data of the Ministry of Health, reproduced by PAHO in the bulletin, indicate that Venezuela has concentrated 2,170 suspected cases of diphtheria since the disease resurfaced. Of the total of probable cases accumulated, 1,249 were confirmed through laboratory tests and by epidemiological link .

http://www.reporteconfidencial.info/noticia/3317829/la-difteria-llega-a-22-estados-de-venezuela-ops-registra-167-fallecidos-en-2018/

The Bolivarian Dictatorship in Venezuela doesn't release any information about what is going on (or not going on) in Venezuela any longer. It has been YEARS since they last offered a fiscal report, let alone a report on the health of Venezuelans. (A Chavista physician who DID release info about the dramatic rise in newborn mortality rates was removed from her position and she has since fled Venezuela.)

Regardless, Chavismo has decided that the Revolution is more important than El Pueblo. Ergo, vaccines have been replaced with sterile water (hopefully it is sterile, as nothing is guaranteed in ChavismoLand anymore) and if you need anything more dramatic than an aspirin for your HIV, you had better go to Colombia. You will need to go to Colombia to get your aspirin too.
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