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Resurgence of Vector-Borne and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in Venezuela in Times of a Complex Humanitarian Health Crisis: A Regional Menace

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2019

Adriana Tami ,
Maria Eugenia Grillet ,
Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi ,
José Oletta ,
Martin S Llewellyn ,
Juan V Hernández-Villena ,
Marilianna Márquez  and
on behalf of the working group on emerging and re-emerging diseases in Venezuela
Adriana Tami
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands Faculty of Medical Sciences, Universidad de Carabobo, Valencia, Venezuela
Maria Eugenia Grillet
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Biologia de Vectores y Parásitos, Instituto de Zoología y Ecología Tropical, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela
Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi
Affiliation:
Infectious Diseases Research Incubator and the Zoonosis and Emerging Pathogens Regional Collaborative Network, Department of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas IDB, Clinica IDB Cabudare, Barquisimeto, Venezuela
José Oletta
Affiliation:
Sociedad Venezolana de Salud Pública/ Red Defendamos la Epidemiología Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela
Martin S Llewellyn
Affiliation:
Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Juan V Hernández-Villena
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Biologia de Vectores y Parásitos, Instituto de Zoología y Ecología Tropical, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela
Marilianna Márquez
Affiliation:
Infectious Diseases Research Incubator and the Zoonosis and Emerging Pathogens Regional Collaborative Network, Department of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas IDB, Clinica IDB Cabudare, Barquisimeto, Venezuela
on behalf of the working group on emerging and re-emerging diseases in Venezuela
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands Faculty of Medical Sciences, Universidad de Carabobo, Valencia, Venezuela Laboratorio de Biologia de Vectores y Parásitos, Instituto de Zoología y Ecología Tropical, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela Infectious Diseases Research Incubator and the Zoonosis and Emerging Pathogens Regional Collaborative Network, Department of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas IDB, Clinica IDB Cabudare, Barquisimeto, Venezuela Sociedad Venezolana de Salud Pública/ Red Defendamos la Epidemiología Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
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Abstract

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Introduction:

Venezuela has plunged into a humanitarian, economic, and health crisis of extraordinary proportions. This complex situation is derived from dismantling of structures at the institutional, legal, political, social, and economic level affecting the life and wellbeing of the entire population.

Aim:

This study aims to assess the impact of Venezuela’s healthcare crisis on vector-borne and vaccine-preventable diseases and the spillover to neighboring countries.

Methods:

Since October 2014, there is a paucity of official epidemiological information in Venezuela. An active search of published and unpublished data was performed. Venezuela and Latin America data were sourced from PAHO Malaria Surveillance and from Observatorio Venezolano de la Salud. Brazil and Colombian data were accessed via their respective Ministries of Health.

Results:

Economic and political mismanagement have precipitated a general collapse of Venezuela’s health system with hyperinflation rates above 45,000%, people impoverishment, and long-term shortages of essential medicines and medical supplies. In this context, the rapid resurgence of previously well-controlled diseases, such as vaccine-preventable (measles, diphtheria) and arthropod-borne (malaria, dengue) diseases has turned them into epidemics of unprecedented magnitudes. Between 2000-2015 Venezuela witnessed a 365% increase in malaria cases followed by a 68% increase (319,765 cases) in late 2017. The latest figures have surpassed 600,000 malaria cases with a prediction to reach 1 million by the end of 2018. Measles and diphtheria have recently re-emerged after a progressive interruption of the national immunization program, with vulnerable indigenous population being particularly affected. In response to Venezuela’s rapidly decaying situation, a massive population exodus is ongoing towards neighboring countries causing a spillover of diseases.

Discussion:

Action to halt the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases within Venezuela is a matter of urgency for the country and the region. Global and hemispheric health authorities should urge the Venezuelan government to allow establishing a humanitarian channel to bring relief.

Type
Best Papers
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 34 , Issue s1: Abstracts of Oral Presentations-WADEM Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2019 , May 2019 , pp. s5 - s6
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2019