Vaccination against poliomyelitis, known as infantile paralysis, should be reinforced in Brazil, especially after the confirmation of a case of the disease in Loreto, Peru.
The recommendation is from the Ministry of Health. Since 2019, vaccination of children under 5 years of age has been falling. No state has reached an index greater than 95% immunized.
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The Tabatinga region, on the border of the Brazilian Amazon with Peru, is one of the places with the highest risk of infection due to low immunization.
“Poliomyelitis is an infectious disease transmitted by the polivirus that lives in the intestine. Although it occurs more frequently in children under 4 years of age, adults can also be contaminated”, warned the Basic Health coordinator of the municipality, Nara Peres.
There is still no specific treatment for infantile paralysis. All those infected must be hospitalized to treat the symptoms. But there is little care, because the effects of the disease can be serious and are related to infection of the medulla and brain by the polivirus.
The infected person may develop joint pain, clubfoot, asymmetric leg growth, osteoporosis, paralysis, difficulty speaking, and muscle atrophy.
The recent case of infantile paralysis in Peru is of an indigenous child aged 1 year and 4 months. She was not vaccinated and had leg paralysis as a sequel.
Here in Brazil, there have been no cases of the disease since 1989. In 1994, the country received certification from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) as an area free from circulation of the poliomyelitis virus.
However, in 2022, the Regional Certification Commission for the eradication of poliomyelitis in the Americas region classified Brazil as a “very risk” region for new cases of the disease.
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