By NewsDesk  @bactiman63

The Ministry of Health of the Nation and the Ministry of Public Health of Salta issued an epidemiological alert for the increase in cases of paratyphoid fever (caused by the salmonella bacteria) in the province, in order to inform about the risk situation and intensify prevention and control activities.

Image/CDC

The alert arises from a report prepared by the Epidemiology areas of Salta and the Nation, the Malbrán Laboratory and the Department of Sanitary and Nutritional Surveillance of Food, INAL-Anmat, published in recent days.

The document ensures that, in the province of Salta, since epidemiological week 47 of the year 2017 cases of paratyphoid fever have been registered, with an increase in notifications every year and marked seasonality.

The isolates were confirmed by the National Reference Laboratory (LNR) as enteric salmonella subspecies enteric serovar Paratyphi B.

In the National Health Surveillance System, from epidemiological week 1 to 45 of 2021, 1,088 notifications of Typhoid and Paratyphoid Fever were registered, of which 1,069 correspond to residents in the province of Salta, mainly in the capital city and municipalities surrounding.

The highest number of cases occurred in the first weeks of the year, decreasing until autumn / winter and a sustained increase in cases was registered since Epidemiological Week 32, with around 45 the 100 notifications.

It is a systemic bacterial disease, characterized by onset with continuous fever, severe headache, general malaise, anorexia, relative bradycardia, splenomegaly, non-productive cough in the early stages of evolution, and constipation more commonly than diarrhea in adults. .

The document issued by the Ministry of Health of the Nation indicates that, although cases are registered in all age groups, 63% of those notified this year are registered in children under 15 years of age.

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Faced with this situation, the national and provincial portfolios recommended that all health teams strengthen the clinical-epidemiological suspicion of paratyphoid fever in people who meet the case definition and inform and sensitize the population about prevention measures and early warning against the appearance of symptoms.

The objectives of epidemiological surveillance are to detect cases early to implement diagnosis, treatment and control actions; allow and direct epidemiological research aimed at interrupting the transmission of the disease.

The Salta Ministry of Health recommended, given the increase in temperature -before the arrival of summer- to take precautions in the handling of food, since bacteria enter the body through the ingestion of contaminated water or food such as meat bovine and avian, eggs, milk or mayonnaise, as well as fish and shellfish.