The Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) sent personnel from the Huetar Norte region in search of people with symptoms of malaria.
After detecting the first three cases of malaria due to the parasite Plasmodium falciparum , the CCSS, in coordination with the Ministry of Health, intensified surveillance and control activities in the last three months in the affected area.
The situation was discovered on a farm in Santa Rosa de Pocosol, so Rapid Technical Assistants of Primary Care (Atap) of the institution, together with vector control technicians of the Ministry of Health, went to different farms.
Local institutional authorities reported that at the moment only 10 cases of Plasmodium falciparum malaria have been confirmed. Twenty more samples were analyzed by the laboratory with negative results.
There were 10 people that required hospitalization, nine in the hospital of San Carlos and one in the hospital of Los Chiles. The criteria for admission were the number of platelets below 100 thousand, which is a risk for bleeding; the geographical area where they live is remote and difficult to access; and the migratory status, since they are people who move constantly for work.
In communities without cases, doctors have been instructed to think about malaria, because the opportunity to cut transmission is to make an early diagnosis.
The treatment consists of two pills (primaquine and chloroquine) for three days. The person takes the pills in the presence of the official, after these three days, blood tests are conducted by laboratory to ensure that there is no presence of the parasite
The CCSS, in coordination with the Ministry of Health, intensified surveillance measures for febrile illnesses in recent months, after the migratory flow increased during the night time when safety controls decreased. The traffic is mainly of Nicaraguan origin due to the situation of Crucitas and in Nicaragua.
The institution has treatment to treat patients for malaria. In the same way, hospital services have been organized in San Carlos and Los Chiles, to deal with cases that require hospitalization.