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Most travelers think of vaccinations as being important protection for the recipient, particularly when visiting regions where rare, or exotic diseases (like Yellow Fever or Meningococcal Meningitis) might be encountered.
But as a statement by PAHO reminds us, routine vaccinations against common communicable diseases (ie. polio, rubella, measles, pertussis) are needed to protect the people who live in the countries where western travelers visit.
And today, nowhere is that more important than on the fragile earthquake and cholera ravaged island of Haiti, where the last thing they need is another imported disease threat to deal with.
PAHO/WHO Urges Travelers to Get Vaccinated Before Entering Haiti
Immunization is needed to ensure that infectious diseases are not imported into Haiti
Washington, DC, February 4, 2011 (PAHO/WHO) – The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) is urging all international travelers to Haiti to get up-to-date on their vaccines, to ensure they do not unknowingly import infectious diseases into Haiti.
The recommendation follows recent epidemiological investigations of two disease outbreaks in Haiti, one involving suspected polio and the other, suspected measles. The investigations were carried out by Haiti’s Ministry of Health with support from PAHO/WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The first investigation concerned four cases of paralysis in cholera patients in the coastal city of Port-de-Paix. Laboratory tests have ruled out polio as the cause of the illnesses. However, as a precaution, polio vaccine is now being included in vaccination campaigns against diphtheria and measles in the area. No cases of indigenous wild polio have been reported in Haiti since polio was declared eradicated from throughout the Americas in 1994.
The second investigation involved a case of measles in the 8-month-old child of a U.S. volunteer who traveled from her home in Pennsylvania to Haiti in late December. The baby developed measles after returning to the United States on Jan. 7, followed by two siblings who also developed the disease. Four of the family’s six children were unvaccinated.
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Infectious diseases including measles and polio can be carried and transmitted even by individuals who do not have symptoms themselves. Because of the risk of importing disease, PAHO strongly recommends that all individuals planning to go to Haiti make sure they have been vaccinated against measles, rubella, polio and other vaccine-preventable.
