It is a community outbreak with 3 confirmed cases, two of them workers at the Inca hospital
The Directorate General of Public Health has activated a surveillance and monitoring protocol in the Tramuntana Area to prevent the spread of the outbreak
Public Health has detected a community outbreak of measles in the Tramuntana Health Sector, affecting 3 people, two of them workers at the Inca hospital. As the cases are coincident in time and in the same health centre, the cases are considered outbreaks.
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Public Health reports the detection of a measles outbreak in the Tramuntana Health Sector
Therefore, the Directorate General of Public Health, in coordination with the Health Service, has established a surveillance protocol, in accordance with the monitoring control of the RENAVE network, which provides for the application of a series of prevention and protection measures in the hospital of Inca and the health centres of the Tramuntana Sector, aimed at controlling the outbreak.
Recommendation of the use of masks for staff and users
The indications established by Public Health in this protocol decree guidelines for self-monitoring of possible symptoms compatible with measles for all workers in these health centres, as well as the review of the vaccination status of professionals, and the recommendation of the use of masks for both staff and users of the health centre’s services, in addition to extreme hygiene measures.
Increase in measles cases in the international context
Currently, and for the last two years, the number of cases of measles, both internationally and nationally, has increased steadily. In the Balearic Islands, a single case was reported in 2019; between 2020 and 2023 the islands did not record any cases, and in 2024 six cases were reported. So far in 2025, 16 new confirmed cases have been identified. The surveillance protocol of the National Epidemiological Surveillance Network (RENAVE) has been applied to all of them, in order to investigate and control the spread of the disease.
The increase in the number of cases at national level, where there have already been several outbreaks in recent years, means that epidemiological surveillance of new cases must be stepped up and the preventive measures set out in the surveillance protocol, including tracing all possible contacts, must be applied.
Vaccination, the main preventive tool
For the general population, as a preventive measure, compliance with the systematic immunisation schedule is recommended. In the Balearic Islands, the measles vaccine is included in the public vaccination schedule and is administered in two doses: at 12 months and at three years of age with the MMR vaccine (combined vaccine against measles, rubella and mumps). Vaccination coverage in the archipelago is high, reaching 90% of the target population.
The recommendation for people with no documented previous vaccination or with no history of having had the disease is to take advantage of medical visits to check and update their vaccination status.
In Spain, systematic vaccination against measles began in 1978, an immunisation that was replaced in 1981 by vaccination with the MMR, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella.
Symptomatology and contagion of measles
Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by a virus. It is a so-called exanthematous disease because one of its clinical features is the appearance of a rash on the skin, which is accompanied by fever and catarrhal symptoms such as conjunctivitis, runny nose, sneezing and coughing, and general malaise.
A person with measles is contagious from 4 days before the onset of the rash until 4 days after its onset. The incubation period is usually 10 to 14 days, but can also range from 7 to 23 days.
Measles virus is spread by direct contact with nasal or throat secretions of an infected person, or by inhaling droplets released during coughing or sneezing. On surfaces, the pathogen can remain active for up to two hours.