THE Ministry of Health of Catalonia will contact, by SMS, all children born between 2016 and 2018 who are not vaccinated against polio starting next week. This measure comes after Public Health reported this Thursday that had detected poliovirus 2 in the wastewater of the Besós River, more precisely in the Besòs wastewater treatment plant, located in Barcelona.
The Territorial Directorate of Barcelona ordered this Friday to strengthen vaccination, because the coverage of the six-year dose – the booster – is low and It does not reach 80%. The Ministry of Health is already investigating Find out if there are people infected with this virus.
“We must not create alarm, but we must insist on the need for vaccination in primary care teams (EAP) with low coverage,” explained vaccinologist Fernando Moraga-Llop in a message to the Barcelona EAPs to whom he had access. Newspaper.
For his part, the Secretary of Public Health of the Generalitat, Esteve Fernández, said that a fourth dose was added two years ago. to “maintain immunity” at six yearsand that it is now recommended that parents vaccinate their children with this dose if they do not have it.
For the moment, the Ministry of Public Health and the Public Health Agency of Barcelona have activated the protocol for monitoring the circulation of poliovirus in the metropolitan area of Barcelona.
What is polio?
Polio is a viral disease that It can affect the nerves and cause total or partial paralysis. This disease is spread by direct contact with an infected person, mucus or phlegm, as well as direct contact with the stool of an infected person.
The appearance of first symptoms It can occur five to 35 days after the time of infection, although the majority have no symptoms. This virus has been virtually eliminated thanks to a global vaccination campaign, although it remains present in some countries in Africa and Asia, where outbreaks among groups of unvaccinated people are common.
