A measles outbreak has been declared at a major hospital on the Costa del Sol amid a concerning rise in cases of the disease.
The latest incident affects the Axarquia Hospital, where a Moroccan patient is being treated for the condition after admitting themselves to the Emergency Department.
According to the regional Health Ministry, at least two healthcare workers attending to the individual are suspected to have caught measles, with tests pending confirmation.
It comes amid a wave of reported new cases in Andalucia this year, with the total now reaching 67.
Of these, Malaga province has the most, counting 39, well over half. Of the nine new cases declared over the past week, seven were in Malaga province.
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The Junta de Andalucia is now pushing for vaccines among health professionals to stop further infections.
It has also published a new Measles Surveillance and Alert Protocol for healthcare centres.
The document calls on medical centres to review their staff’s susceptibility to the disease, even in the absence of suspected cases, and to update their vaccinations.
It also calls for the bringing forward of the second dose of the vaccine to children aged between 12 months and three years if they are related or linked to a measles case.
According to a Junta report released on Wednesday, four new cases in Malaga over the past week correspond to a family outbreak, and are all adults.
There were also three imported adult cases from Morocco (one in Almeria, two in Malaga), one 45-year-old woman in Malaga (source unknown) and a 13-month-old in Sevilla who was vaccinated just two weeks prior.
The baby’s case is awaiting further tests to determine if it is post-vaccination measles.
So far this year, a total of 11 measles outbreaks have been reported in Andalucia, of which six are still active and five have been declared over.
Of these, around 28% the cases have been imported from other countries, the majority Morocco (17) and one each from Belgium and Denmark.
There are also 14 cases not imported from abroad, for which the source of the infection remains unknown.
These consist of seven cases in Malaga city, two in Marbella, one in Alora, one in Calañas, one in Huelva, one in Palos de la Frontera, and one in Sevilla.
Eight cases were infants of under 12 months following an outbreak at a daycare center in Fuengirola, which has since been declared over.
In Malaga province, some 39 cases have been reported so far this year. They consist of: One in Alora, one in Casabermeja, nine in Fuengirola, 16 in Malaga city, two in Marbella, seven in Mijas, one in Ojen, one in Rincon de la Victoria, and one in Torrox.
The majority are concentrated mainly in the health districts of Costa del Sol (19 cases) and Malaga city (17 cases).
