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Journal of Human Growth and Development

versão impressa ISSN 0104-1282versão On-line ISSN 2175-3598

J. Hum. Growth Dev. vol.29 no.3 São Paulo set./dez. 2019

https://doi.org/10.7322/jhgd.v29.9522 

EDITORIAL

 

Immunoprevention: a course of decades and the challenge to tackle false information

 

 

Cristina Ribeiro Macedo

Professora da Escola de Ciências da Escola Superior de Saúde da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Vitória - EMESCAM. Mestre em Saúde Coletiva pela Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo

Correspondence

 

 


ABSTRACT

Despite the growing structure of the National Immunization Program, it was possible to witness the resurgence of immunopreventable diseases that were supposed to be controlled. Such phenomenon motivates unrest and discussion in the field of public health, encouraging the academic and scientific community to seek answers, because clearly factors are interfering with the quality of the intended end product, which is the immunogenic protection of populations. In this way, it was evidenced that the media has favored the circulation of dubious and falsely articulated information, causing a fear in the population that makes it difficult to adhere to receiving vaccines. Frequently, those attitudes are based on concepts, values, philosophical and religious beliefs that hinder the effective communication of health professionals and the population eligible to receive the immunobiological. In this scenario , false news can cause health problems, hence, it is important to stands out the significance of scientific information. False publications were determinants in the worldwide expansion of the anti-vaccine movement. Indicators of morbidity and mortality are important in the delineation of coping priority in healthcare, but understanding the phenomena that permeate the decision-making of populations is of paramount importance for the design of strategies. Research methodologies with different perspective on the same topic complement each other. It is not enough to quantify the problem, but it is also necessary to look for the social changes that occur in the group and to determine the diversification of behavior in society, mixed research methodologies often propose results that broaden understanding. It is emphasized that providing false information implies the deconstruction of science, considering that scientific information supports decisions that involve the health of the population in different contexts and support the development of public health policies.

Keywords: immunization, vaccines, research.


 

 

The history of humanity over the millennia has been permeated by episodes related to infectious diseases, often ravaging communities, altering behavior patterns, determining population isolation, as happened with the yellow fever epidemics that represented high mortality in the 18th century in western Africa, the Caribbean, Central America and Europe, over the course of history the phenomenon was repeated with considerable seasonality1,2, at that time the vulnerability of people consisted in the lack of tools to deal with serious epidemics1.

In recent Brazilian history, the panic caused by the resurgence of immunopreventable diseases such as measles, yellow fever, and mumps has been observed, followed by the fear of health authorities in experiencing difficulties to control the situation. Corroborating this possibility and meeting the expectations of the World Health Organization (WHO), there was an increase of around 300% of measles cases in 20193.

In contemporary society, a major technological breakthrough with broad scope has been envisaged, positively impacting on the quality of life of people, such technology has expanded to the pharmaceutical industry providing the production of immunobiologicals with increasing immunogenic property, particularly, biotechnology has caused a significant paradigm shift in vaccine development represented by the use of different antigens, new adjuvants, vectors and improved distribution logistics4.

Despite the growing structure of the National Immunization Program (NIP), it was possible to witness the resurgence of immunopreventable diseases that were supposed to be controlled, such phenomenon motivates disturbance and discussion in the field of public health, encouraging the academic and scientific community to seek answers, because, clearly there are factors interfering with the quality of the intended end product, which refers to the immunogenic protection of populations5-7.

In this way, it was evidenced that the media has favored the circulation of dubious and falsely articulated information, provoking in the population a fear to get the vaccines. These attitudes are based , in many cases, in philosophical and religious concepts, values, convictions that hinder the effective communication of health professionals and the population eligible to receive the immunobiologicals8,9.

From the 1970s onwards, the anti-vaccination movement emerged in Europe and the United States, intensifying in 1982, with the documentary titled "DPT: Vaccine Roulette" associating the triple bacterial vaccine with chronic brain inflammation.

Later, in 1998, the British Andrew Wakefield, published an article stating that children diagnosed with autism had symptoms two weeks after receiving the triple viral vaccine, this publication was canceled for lack of scientific evidence. False news was decisive for the worldwide expansion of the anti-vaccine movement, which is under the parents' argument that not vaccinating reflects the care of the offspring, giving protection to iatrogenic controversy that oppose the theoretical framework that supports the actions of the NIP9-12.

In this context, the dialogue between the scientific community and health institutions has been essential in unveiling the national scenario, permeating the problem of preventable diseases. Epidemiological studies have, over the decades, measured the behavior of health issues , as they quantitatively study the phenomenon health and disease in populations through association measures13,14.

Clinical trials, properly monitored by the National Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), are essential in the production of vaccines. Recent estimates indicate around 390 million dengue infections worldwide each year, with 96 million being symptomatic infections of any severity. The goal of the World Health Organization (WHO) is to reduce this amount by 50%, currently there is only one formulation available in Brazil of dengue vaccine developed by Sanofi Pasteur, some others are in various stages of development, so the knowledge production must be a continuous process that will corroborate the improvement of the population's quality of life15.

Indicators of morbidity and mortality are important in the delineation of coping priority in health, but understanding the phenomena that permeate the decision-making of populations is of paramount importance for the design of strategies, research methodologies complement each other as they provide different perspective on the same discussion. It is not enough to quantify the problem, it is also necessary to search for the social changes that occur in the group and to determine the diversification of behavior in society, mixed research methodologies often propose results that broaden understanding15.

In this scenario, the importance of scientific information is highlighted which are published in journals such as the Journal of Human Growth and Development which each year address important topics in evidence-based practices. This latest issue brings topics such as child health care in the social and institutional context16-26, health problems associated with life cycles27-29, research methods30 and others relevant matters.

It is noteworthy that providing false information implies the deconstruction of science, considering that scientific information supports decisions that involve the health of the population in different contexts, and support the development of public health policies.

 

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Correspondence:
cristina.ribeiro@emescam.br

Manuscript received: January 2019
Manuscript accepted: April 2019
Version of record online: April 2019

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