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Until Wednesday 18, Brazil recorded 677 cases of measles. The disease is generally considered mild, typical of childhood, with no major consequences and, therefore, acceptable. It is wrong to think so. The return of cases to the country represents a defeat in the field of public health. The disease has been eradicated here since 2016, thanks to a successful vaccination policy that until then had guaranteed the protection of children and adults against the virus responsible for the disease. Added to the information that 312 Brazilian cities – 44 in São Paulo, the richest state in the nation – are at risk for the occurrence of polio cases, the situation presents a disturbing panorama. Polio has been eradicated in Brazil since 1990 and, like measles, is preventable by vaccination. Both immunizations are available free of charge in the public health network and have very low risks of more serious side effects. It is therefore not acceptable for Brazil to face the threat of seeing the diseases against which medicine has won one of its major victories come back. It was in 1796 that the English physician Edward Jenner discovered that immunization against the virus responsible for the disease, which at that time was killing thousands of people, was inoculated to people with smallpox .
However, since 2011, it has been observed that vaccines are used to prevent these diseases from decimating populations.
The country is also skating on the prevention of diseases such as yellow fever and influenza, both of which are also prevented by vaccines. The urban form of yellow fever has been eradicated since 1942, but wild cases (in forest areas) have increased in recent years. Between July 2017 and May 2018, there were 1,266
Regarding the flu, the Ministry of Health reached the 90% coverage last week children aged six months to five years, health workers, teachers of public and private schools, peoples indigenous, pregnant women, mothers up to 45 days after childbirth, prisoners and prison staff. However, among pregnant women and those under five, coverage was 77% and 76%, respectively. The states with the lowest immunization rates were Roraima (67%) and Rio de Janeiro (77%). Meanwhile, the total number of deaths increased from 285 last year to 839 in 2018.
Lack of public support for vaccines in Brazil can only be explained by a bias. There is a combination of obstacles that essentially involve access, lack of sense of individual responsibility and a lot of misinformation. Regarding the first point, it is true that immunizers are available in health posts, but in most cities, they work during office hours, when parents and guardians are at work and children at work. l & # 39; school.
However, every adult must do his part to take care of children and vaccinate, respecting the vaccination schedule. Like the couple Vagner Rubini and Suhianh Kill, in São Paulo, with the children Lorena and Nicoli. "We kept the dates," they say. And parents of Anne Carolinne, seven months. "We obey the pediatrician's guidelines," says Sirlene Tamaki, with her husband, Rodrigo
Mistake
The fight against misinformation requires additional efforts. There are three major challenges in this regard. It's a paradox, but control of the disease by vaccines over the last few decades has led to the impression that diseases are no longer a threat. "The fact that the diseases have disappeared has made many people think that the vaccine is not necessary," says epidemiologist Carla Domingues, coordinator of the National Immunization Program. Thinking like this is a misconception that can cause illness to resume the transmission force. The same perception is observed among health professionals. Many have never seen victims of polio or measles because they grew up at a time when they were not happening. Anne Caroline with her parents Sirlene and Rodrigo Tamaki: they follow the advice of the pediatrician (Credit: Marco Ankosqui)
He is also confronted with plague of false news. They spread through social networks and have an impressive impact on those who read them. During the outbreak of yellow fever at the beginning of the year, the damage was narcotic, both to spread the panic that led to the invasion of the stations and to move the population away from doses. First of all, the currents have pushed everyone to demand the vaccine, when we know that there are cases in which it is contraindicated (transplanted and chemotherapy patients, for example). Then, with the profusion of unfounded information that the immunizer does more harm than good. Like all drugs, vaccines have adverse effects, but mostly on a much smaller scale than the benefit they produce (see table)
These two factors act as a fuel to enhance movement anti-vaccination, consisting of people pbad on false information about vaccinations – including health professionals who refuse to accept a quality science – and who refuse to take their children to protect them. This is a global phenomenon that is causing the growth in the number of measles cases seen in Europe in 2017. According to the World Health Organization, the total number of infections on the continent grew by 300%, reaching more than 21,000 people, with 35 dead. In 2016, there were 5,273 cases.
Activists make noise in social networks, where nonsense proliferates as the idea that immunizers are ineffective or pose a greater risk than profits. It's a lie. Equally false is the thesis that the triple viral vaccine (immunization against measles, mumps and rubella) is badociated with autism. In 1998, a work by Andrew Wakefield suggested the link, but it has been proven that it does not exist. The author, even, was found guilty of fraud. The research was taken from the scientific literature
Nonsense in the network
Nothing that says condemn vaccines has a scientific basis. None of them shows signs of intellectual coherence that will help them to talk about it. An attitude recorded during the gathering of information for this report clearly shows how the members of the movement act. Gerusa Monzo, a mother of two and a social media activist, was contacted by ISTOÉ. She asked how much the magazine would pay for the interview. When asked how much she would charge, she replied, "The minimum of R $ 3 thousand." For less than that I have no interest. "What Gerusa and other people like she do is irresponsible towards their children in the first place. So much that the action is punishable according to the Statute of the Child and the Adolescent. Last week, the prosecutor's office in Rio Grande do Sul announced that he would act against parents who do not vaccinate children. The denunciations will be erased and, if confirmed, the officials will be notified and the body will give a period of fifteen days for the vaccination. If this is not done, the MP can fine three to twenty times the minimum wage and adopt measures such as the search and seizure of the child. He will be taken to the vaccination post and the parents will respond to the trial.
There is also a threat to the community. When one child is not vaccinated, another, if he is not yet protected, is endangered. And the whole society too, putting aside one of the major achievements of science for humanity. The health of all is threatened.
" Vaccinate cares "
For these reasons, to prevent progress information against vaccines is urgent. "People who are against vaccination are bad for themselves and for others," says Luiza's mother, Julia Goretti, who was properly vaccinated. is championed by presenter Xuxa, expected to be the sponsor of this year's vaccination campaign, scheduled from September to August.This is not the first time she has participated in the general call for the need to vaccinate the little ones. "I was asked to campaign against infantile paralysis in the 1990s and I was able to participate in the conquest that was to vaccinate 94% of the children," he said. he said. "I do not know how we still have to campaign to remind officials that we must take care of our children by vaccinating them. It is simply unacceptable to have to remember someone who is not irresponsible. It is to take care to vaccinate. "Xuxa criticizes members of anti-vaccine groups." Do not have children if you do not want to vaccinate them. They do not deserve to suffer in the hands of people who think they are right. "Despite the gradual reduction in immunization coverage, the country has not yet reached a point without returning to the regression in this area. "It's a dark but compelling scenario," says Isabela Ballalai, MD, president of the Brazilian Society of Immunization. To face it, one must understand that it is a matter of state, not government, and that the situation is complex. Everyone has the responsibility, from public authorities to parents, from health professionals to those who pbad on information through social networks. "Without this understanding, we will succumb.The state must badume its managerial role and the population understands the importance of their participation," says epidemiologist Carla Domingues
Revolt against the vaccine
From November 10 to 16, 1904, the population of Rio de Janeiro rebelled. People did not want to be forced to vaccinate against smallpox, as determined by the state government in the face of the epidemic of disease that was invading the city. The argument, based on the lack of information recorded at the time, was that the drug, made from fragments of the virus, would lead to the development of the disease. Legally sanctioned health workers entered people's homes and vaccinated them by force. Civilians mounted barricades and the confrontation between the population and the police took place on the streets.
Fernando Lavieri collaborated
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