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"Now, the importance of the vaccine is to keep the country free of the virus that causes this illness. The shots don't have side-effects," the coordinator for the ministry's national immunization program, Maria Arindelita Arruda, said.
Poliomyelitis is a serious viral infection that in a minority of cases, particularly in children, can cause nerve damage and paralysis.
The World Health Organization is leading efforts to eradicate the disease entirely.
But it is still endemic in India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan and several other countries, most in Africa, still struggle with the illness.
"The fact that polio is stamped out in Brazil is no reason for complacency," Arindelita said.
She added that the vaccination program would mean that "if someone brought in the virus from one of those countries, children won't run the risk of catching the disease."
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Poliomyelitis is a serious viral infection that in a minority of cases, particularly in children, can cause nerve damage and paralysis.
The World Health Organization is leading efforts to eradicate the disease entirely.
But it is still endemic in India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan and several other countries, most in Africa, still struggle with the illness.
"The fact that polio is stamped out in Brazil is no reason for complacency," Arindelita said.
She added that the vaccination program would mean that "if someone brought in the virus from one of those countries, children won't run the risk of catching the disease."
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