News in brief Brazil – Eradicated diseases start to scare again; see the challenges of vaccination



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D Diseases that have already been eradicated in Brazil have become a source of concern among health authorities and health professionals. The low vaccination coverage, according to the Ministry of Health itself, ignites a "red light" in the country. In Amazonas and Roraima, with the measles outbreak, there are about 500 confirmed cases and more than 1,500 in the survey. In the other extreme of the country, Rio Grande do Sul has also confirmed six cases of this disease this year. In 2016, Brazil received the certificate of elimination of circulation of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) virus

In June, the Mercosur countries reached an agreement to prevent reintroduction diseases already eliminated in the Americas, including measles, poliomyelitis and rubella. Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile have committed to strengthening border health care and providing assistance to migrants to reduce the transmission of cases. On the last day, Opas sent a warning to countries after the detection of a case of the disease in Venezuela. Data from the federal government show that 312 Brazilian municipalities have polio immunization coverage of less than 50%.

The group of diseases may return to Brazil if vaccination coverage, especially for children, does not increase. The alert comes from the Brazilian Society of Immunization (Sbim), which advocates a 95% vaccination rate for the target audience. In an interview with Agência Brasil the president of the entity, Isabella Ballalai, explained that a number of factors were jeopardizing the success of the vaccination in the country, including the lack of knowledge about diseases considered eradicated, false news via social networks and limited hours of operation of health posts

Agência Brasil: What are the challenges of vaccination in Brazil today? Isabella Ballalai: We talk about diseases like measles, polio, diphtheria and tetanus. These are basic vaccines, but often people end up neglecting. They do not vaccinate, they delay, they say "I'm going there". We combine this with the non-evaluation of these diseases, considered extinct and, therefore, not seen there. We also join the same day. Health clinics in Brazil, for the most part, are open from Monday to Friday and close for lunch. Families work.

Agência Brasil: There was a high demand for vaccines after the yellow fever cases detected in Brazil. How does this fit into this context? Isabella Ballalai: With yellow fever, we lived in a different situation. Minas Gerais has always been a field of routine immunization – even before this epidemic. We must reinforce the fact that it was not an epidemic, it was an epidemic. And if people do not get vaccinated, in December now, all over again. We had low coverage. Children have even been vaccinated, but not adults. There, the challenge is to make the adult understand that he must also take a vaccine. Why can not we vaccinate everyone? In times of epidemic, we have run-runs, queues, discussions. Suddenly, with the end of the cases, everyone was gone. At least half of the population has not been vaccinated.

Agência Brasil: How to summarize the challenges of vaccination in Brazil? Isabella Ballalai: The difficulty of vaccination in the country is multifactorial – depends on the type of vaccine, the age group in question. Between 20 and 30% of adolescents, for example, have been vaccinated against meningitis. Only People can not imagine how difficult it is to take a teenager to a vaccination room. In general, we realize that when people are afraid of the disease, they seek the vaccine. The Brazilian is not afraid of the vaccine, he is afraid of the disease. And you're just looking for the vaccine when he's on TV. One example was the flu epidemic in 2016. We had waiting lines of six hours in private clinics. The goal of vaccination was above what was needed, rose from 100%. What happened to this myth that people do not get vaccinated because they are afraid of catching the flu? People were afraid of the disease, they saw the disease, they believed in the disease.

Agência Brasil: Why is it so difficult to cope with disease prevention? Isabella Ballalai: I lost count of the number of times I saw parents vaccinating their children and not getting vaccinated. Prevention is a delicate thing. At the time when wearing seatbelts was not mandatory, the person only used it when she was losing someone in a traffic accident. This is more or less what happens with vaccines. And it seems that there is provision for the mandatory nature of vaccination in the Status of Child and Adolescent. It is the right of the child and the adolescent the vaccine. Parents are suppliers, they can not deny this right. But it is complex. We have a school dropout scenario in Brazil. The school, for example, will not prevent a child from studying because he does not have the vaccines up to date. You can post in the tutelary table, but prevent it will not be. It's a very different scenario from the American reality. The United States has no problem dropping out of school and forbid the child to go to school if he does not have up-to-date vaccines

Agência Brasil: Other countries are also experiencing difficulties in immunization. Are there any similarities with the scenario in Brazil? Isabella Ballalai: Europe and North America have serious vaccine coverage problems. These are rates that are between 30% and 40% of the target audience. A problem When we talk about low vaccination coverage in Brazil, it is around 70% to 80%. It looks good compared to the reality of other countries. But to keep the diseases eradicated, we must achieve our goals. And, especially for children under 1 or 2 years of age, the target is 95% coverage. It works like this: we recently had measles cases in Porto Alegre. An unvaccinated girl caught the disease in Manaus. If she, even though she had not been vaccinated, had gone to Manaus and found vaccinated children, we would not have the epidemic we had in the South, and Is what we call collective protection. Immunization coverage is synonymous with collective action. And individuals are increasingly individualized to engage in collective action. With the information of Agência Brasil.

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