With vaccination coverage falling in the country, infectologist warns the importance and protection against measles, mumps and rubella

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May 14, 2022

11:05

Ívina Garcia – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Much is discussed about the importance of vaccination, especially in the first years of children’s lives. However, in Brazil, misinformation has been the main villain against the immunization of minors. This is because in recent years, fake news have tried at all costs to defame the effectiveness of vaccines that save lives and inhibit the reappearance of diseases.

Diseases such as Measles, Polio and Diphtheria, which had already been eradicated thanks to vaccines, have reappeared in Brazil, a result of the lack of information, trust and dissemination of unrealistic rumors about vaccines.

The drop in vaccination coverage is something from before the pandemic, but that according to UNICEF was aggravated, not only by fakes news, but by the fear of leaving home during the most severe period of the pandemic. This has resulted in many children and adolescents with outdated primers, and may be susceptible to preventable diseases.

According to UNICEF, based on data from the Ministry of Health’s National Immunization Program (PNI), in three years, the vaccination coverage against measles, mumps, and rubella (Triple-Viral D1) fell from 93.1% in 2019 to 71.49% in 2021 in Brazil.

In addition to the Viral Triplet, polio vaccination coverage fell from 84.2% in 2019 to 67.7% in 2021. This means that three out of ten children in the country have not received vaccines needed to protect them from life-threatening diseases.

In Amazonas, between 2019 and 2021, the vaccination coverage against measles, mumps and rubella (D1 Viral Triplet) fell from 92.1% to 69.4%, according to data from the Municipal Health Secretariat of Manaus (SEMSA), the data for 2022 has not yet been released.

Design: Isabele Chaves /Cenarium Magazine

Protection

“We have serious diseases, besides the triple viral, measles is a very serious disease that is circulating again. Brazil had already eradicated measles, but we had cases in Ceará before the Covid-19 pandemic and that happened because they had susceptible people, because they weren’t vaccinated”, explains Infectologist, Ana Galdina Mendes.

The doctor explains that the triple viral vaccine is made with weakened viruses, they do not cause disease, but stimulate immunity. Part of the fake news comes from people who, without any theoretical basis, end up reading this kind of information and interpreting it in a wrong way.

Ana says that before the pandemic she had already seen the decline in advertisements in favor of the vaccine and believes that this has been the impetus for so much misinformation. “We saw in the 90’s and early 2000’s the figure of Zé Gotinha present, and this communication with the population was lost, and along with this we had the issue of the internet, it is an excellent tool, but it makes it easier to share information that is not true. And since people don’t have access or don’t look for a health professional to clarify this information, it ends up becoming a reality”, she evaluates.

Many of the diseases that returned due to low adherence to the vaccine can lead to death, the infectologist warns the importance of vaccination. “So it is necessary to vaccinate children so that they don’t get sick. These diseases can take proportions that can lead to death. Or for a very long time with the disease, or by sequels caused by them. These are viral diseases that are very common in childhood. They used to be known as ‘children’s diseases’, but they are diseases that can evolve and become serious.”