NewsDesk @bactiman63

Bolivian health authorities (SEDES) have reported a second case of yellow fever in the Santa Cruz region. The patient is a 21-year-old man, referred from the municipality of San Ignacio de Velasco, who was not vaccinated against the disease.

Image/Robert Herriman

The patient migrated from Camiri to San Ignacio de Velasco to work in a sawmill; there he presented the symptoms of the disease, for which he first went to a private clinic. Currently, he is hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the National Health Fund, in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, with a reserved diagnosis.

In April of this year, after 19 years without notifications, Santa Cruz registered an autochthonous case of yellow fever. The 17-year-old male, born in the municipality of Puerto Suárez, presented fever and malaise on March 23. He self-medicated and on March 27, when the symptoms worsened, he was admitted to a center and later due to the complications he was referred to Santa Cruz de la Sierra. He had liver and kidney disorders, and due to his complexity, he was intubated. This first patient ended up dying after almost a month of admission.

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On April 25, in Cochabamba, the death of a child due to complications from yellow fever was reported. The 12-year-old patient died in the municipality of Cocapata, in the community of Colorado, on the border with La Paz without being able to be transferred in time to a third level hospital. The boy lived in a municipality in the southern cone, but for work reasons he moved to Cocapata, where the disease is endemic, and contracted the disease.

In Bolivia, vaccination against this disease is included in the Expanded Immunization Program (PAI), so it is free and is done once in a lifetime.

Between 2000 and 2018, the country reported 42 cases of the disease, with a case fatality rate of 38%.