The Manaus Vaccination Forum at City Hall highlights the role of health professionals in combating misinformation

Extensive and sustained public information work must be carried out on a large scale to educate the population about the importance of vaccination. This is the summary of the participation of the Coordinator of the Biological Immuno-Reference Center (Crie-AM) and Member of the Amazonian Society of Pediatrics (Saped), Infectious Diseases Doctor Solange Dourado, during the First Municipal Vaccination Forum, promoted by the City of Manaus-Hole, on Tuesday 16/3. Its main theme is “immune prevention, everyone’s responsibility”.

With the topic “Safety and Effectiveness of Vaccines”, Solange Dourado demonstrated the vaccine production process, explaining the steps needed to deliver immune products to the population, following the necessary protocols to ensure their efficacy and safety.

“Vaccines are safe, the result of serious research work and are the most effective way to promote health,” he said.

Speaking about the effects of lower vaccination coverage, as of 2015 across the country, a scenario favoring the re-emergence of diseases already under control, the pediatric infectious disease specialist assessed that dissemination of information to the population is the basis for changing the current situation.

The Crie Coordinator cited fake news and misinformation as barriers to raising awareness about the safety of vaccines.

“Only through extensive information work with parents and guardians will we be able to change this reality. People need to be directed and informed about the need and safety that vaccines represent. We need to confront fake news and misinformation, and primarily disseminate information to people who have difficulty accessing Safe content and who do not know how to identify fake news‘, he confirmed.

Another more subtle impact factor is related to the fact that many diseases that previously threatened public health no longer manifest themselves, leading to the misconception that vaccination is no longer necessary.

Some diseases are not known to the population, and because people are not accustomed to seeing how they harm their health, they are not afraid. People act as if these diseases do not threaten them. Today, no one is seeing more cases of polio, for example, and this contributes to the population’s thinking that vaccines are unnecessary. Our job, he explained, is to show that these diseases do exist, and that they pose real threats to our lives.

The second part of the show is dedicated to Crie-AM, which operates at the headquarters of Fundação de Medicina Tropical Doutor Heitor Vieira Dourado, a state-coordinated unit, where users with certain health conditions, such as those with congenital or acquired problems, are located. . Disabilities, and other conditions need specific vaccinations.

Crie also provides guidance for users who have had serious events, which may be related to some vaccines and that need investigation. This service is performed from a referral from a doctor from the public or private health network to the referral center.

“It is important to emphasize that our service does not follow an open door system, when a user has an allergy or other adverse reaction. Our role is to investigate and guide and in order to help this person we need to receive a referral from a doctor from the public or private network, so that we can Find out what happened.

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text – Tania Brandao / SMSA

Pictures – Camila Batista / SMSA

is in – https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzG42U