Brazil: Venezuelan child dies from suspected diphtheria

July 23, 2017

Headlines, Latin America and the Caribbean

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A 10-year-old Venezuelan boy who was hospitalized at the Santo Antônio Children’s Hospital suspected of having pharyngotonsillar diphtheria died Tuesday morning, according to a Globo.com report (computer translated).

He had been hospitalized since July 12 in an isolation ward at the Santo Antônio Children’s Hospital in Boa Vista.

In a statement, the City of Boa Vista reported that the death of the child was caused by a dilated myocarditis due to complications aggravated by the disease.

“The team at the Santo Antônio Children’s Hospital provided all support for the treatment of the child, and all international surveillance protocols were followed. Both the clinical diagnosis and the administration of anti-diphtheria serum to neutralize the disease’s action, sent by Instituto Butantã , In São Paulo, were carried out in a timely manner, “the note said.

He received one dose of anti-Diphtheria serum on Friday, July 14.

Since December last year, the City of Boa Vista issued an alert on diphtheria due to the proximity of Roraima with Venezuela and due to the increasing migration.

Following the identification of the disease on July 12, the city hall warns the population to keep the vaccine cards updated because of the risk of contamination in the neighboring country. Diphtheria and other vaccines that are part of the essential vaccination schedule are available at basic health units.

Health authorities reported there were a total of 324 cases of diphtheria that started to proliferate in Venezuela in 2016.