Health screenings, vaccinations await Afghan refugees in Nevada

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week asked wellness attraction providers to beryllium connected alert for cases of measles and different infectious diseases successful evacuees from Afghanistan.

Clinicians person been asked to notify their section wellness territory oregon authorities wellness section if they fishy a lawsuit of measles. The astir caller lawsuit successful Clark County was reported successful 2018, said Stephanie Bethel with the Southern Nevada Health District.

The wellness territory for Clark County notified section doctors of the CDC’s guidance done its email notification strategy earlier this week.

“We are educating our physicians astir the precise tiny but imaginable hazard of measles oregon possibly different infectious diseases that mightiness beryllium occurring successful radical who get from Afghanistan,” said Dr. Cortland Lohff, main aesculapian serviceman for the wellness district.

The CDC said this week it is requiring that evacuees from Afghanistan who person arrived successful the United States get vaccinated against measles and quarantine for 21 days connected subject bases and different harmless havens, aft immoderate were recovered to person the highly contagious virus. Some evacuees already had resettled earlier measles cases had been identified and the vaccination run had begun.

There person been astatine slightest 16 cases of measles and 4 cases of mumps successful Afghan nationals and U.S. citizens precocious evacuated from Afghanistan to the U.S., the CDC said.

A typical of Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, an bureau assisting with the resettling of evacuees, said that nary Afghan evacuees had yet been resettled here.

Nevada is expected to person 150 evacuees, 50 successful Southern Nevada and 100 successful Northern Nevada, done the national Afghan Placement and Assistance program.

Lohff said that the wellness territory would beryllium conducting wellness screenings and providing immoderate needed vaccinations erstwhile the evacuees arrive.

Measles is an highly contagious infectious disease, infecting 9 retired of 10 radical who are exposed to it done adjacent interaction if they don’t person immunity from vaccination oregon anterior infection.

In 2000, measles was declared eliminated from the United States. However, travelers proceed to bring measles into the country, wherever it poses a hazard to unvaccinated individuals.

Lohff said that the hazard of a measles outbreak successful Clark County is low.

“We person reasonably bully population-level immunity to measles,” done vaccination or, successful older individuals, anterior infection, helium said.

The CDC said determination besides person been immoderate cases of varicella, mumps, tuberculosis, malaria, leishmaniasis, hepatitis A, and COVID-19 among evacuees.

“Although COVID-19 incidence successful this colonisation has been notably low, COVID immunization and investigating is being provided for each evacuees,” the bureau said.

Contact Mary Hynes astatine mhynes@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 connected Twitter.