The government of Cuba has announced a vaccination program for more than fifty million Cuban children to protect them against poliomyelitis. The procedure will take place in two stages: one in March and the second one in April. During the first round, nearly 400,000 infants from eight months to three years old will be supplied with two drops, which need to be taken on an empty stomach (neither food nor water during the half hour before the vaccine).
In April, the same group of children will be given a second dose, and more than 130,000 nine year old children will have their vaccines reactivated.
Poliomyelitis, The Disease
Poliomyelitis, also called Infantile Paralysis, is a disease caused by the poliovirus which can lead to partial or total paralysis. The virus enters through the mouth and nose after direct contact with people or contact with infected body secretions. Most of the time, total recovery is possible if the virus has not affected the spinal cord or the brain. When it does, the poliomyelitis can lead to paralysis or even death.
Latin-American Background
Latin America eradicated polio in 1991, Cuba being the first country to achieve it in 1962, after strong vaccination campaigns. In 1991, only six cases were detected in Latin America, the last one of which was seen in Perú.
However, vaccination campaigns are still important to ensure there is no new outbreak of the disease. As polio has not been completely eradicated from the world and there are still cases of the disease in other countries, children should continue to be vaccinated until the poliovirus is gone from the planet. In 2006, cases of polio were only found in four countries across the world, but in 2010, due to the lack of children’s vaccination, there was a new outbreak of the disease. Therefore, consistent and continuous vaccination plans help with the complete eradication of diseases.
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