By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Ministry of Health has confirmed the first case of a prisoner with mumps at the Nelson Mandela prison in San Carlos in the northern part of the country.

The authorities said they have isolated the patient and are analyzing the possibility of applying the suspension of visits rule with the goal that the disease is not spread to other people.

As A.M. Costa Rica has been reporting, the ministry stopped visits to most inmates to halt the spread of mumps, a disease that infected many prisoners.

On Oct. 7,  prisoners at the Gerardo Rodríguez Prison in San Rafael in the Province of Alajuela burned mattresses and threw rocks at guards. Officials said the prisoners were unhappy with the visitor ban. Prison guards used tear case to control the riot.


The health ministry later relaxed the ban on visits and said said that minors, pregnant women and the elderly still will not be admitted because they have a high risk of infection.

Visitors still are not being admitted to the prison where the riot took place, said the ministry. There are 85 cases of mumps there among the 1,148 prisoners.

According to the updated statistics of the ministry, these prisons allow or will allow visits under some conditions and the mumps infections are:

- Luis Paulino More Prison, in the province of Alajuela. 18 cases were reported, three of which remain in isolation.

- The Calle Real Prison in the Province of Guanacaste, six cases reported of which none is in isolation. The authorities report that as of Friday visits to the prisoners will be allowed.

- In the Marcus Garvey Prison in the province of Limón, 13 cases were reported, of which three are in isolation. Visits are allowed in some of the modules.

- In Carlos Luis Fallas Prison in the Province of Limón, 78 cases were reported, and 10 inmates are in isolation. In this prison, the authorities said they will visits on  Oct. 24.

- In the Antonio Bastia Prison in Pérez Zeledón, in the southern part of the country, 25 cases were reported of which only one is in isolation. The authorities now allow visits..

- In the Reynaldo Villalobos Prison in the Province of Alajuela, only one case was reported. Visits are allowed.

- In the Jorge Arturo Montero Prison in the Province of Alajuela, six cases were reported of which only one person remains in isolation. Visits are allowed.

Social Security developed a mumps virus vaccination campaign in prisons. 400 vaccinations were given to prisoners, security officers, and administrative staff.


The campaign started in two prisons, at Jorge Arturo Montero prison, known as La Reforma, and Gerardo Rodríguez prison, known as Virilla jail. Both prisons are located in the Province of Alajuela.

 

----------------------------

---

---

---

---