In 2022, a statement was issued warning of the possibility of polio cases in the country:
The National Academy of Medicine to the People's Ministry of Health and the general population
The National Academy of Medicine (ANM) respectfully addresses the health organizations in Venezuela, in this opportunity to URGE them to URGENTLY increase vaccination coverage in all areas, but especially in anti-polio vaccines.
Due to the risk of importation, the main risk factor for children under 5 years of age to acquire this disease is low vaccination coverage. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) asked countries to redouble efforts to vaccinate children against polio. Poliovirus can be easily imported into a polio-free country and can spread rapidly in unimmunized population groups, which is why it is so important to maintain a high rate of vaccination coverage. According to data from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), anti-polio 3 vaccination coverage in Venezuela is less than 80% (Report of the 13th Meeting of the Regional Certification Commission for the Final Phase of Polio Eradication in the Americas), and four countries (Haiti, Venezuela, Peru and the Dominican Republic) were classified as VERY HIGH RISK.
The National Academy of Medicine, for all the reasons stated above, reiterates the EXHORT to the MPPS to establish a mass vaccination plan against Poliomyelitis, always being available to the authorities for consultations and to collaborate in improving the health of the Venezuelan population.
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A pediatrician reported the following:
There is a case of polio in Venezuela and understanding the implications is complicated. But since the Venezuelan State does not report anything, someone has to tell this story, so I will try to explain it in a simple way so that no one gets alarmed and instead they go out to solve the problem.
Yesterday, the PAHO/WHO published a Polio Bulletin indicating that Venezuela isolated the virus in the country. This implies that somewhere there was a case of flaccid paralysis and they confirmed that the reason was that the patient had Polio, something that had not happened for years here.
How old is the patient? Is he seriously ill? Is he still paralyzed? Where is he from? Well, we don't know anything. Venezuela has not published the Epidemiological Bulletin since 2016, which should contain that information. Something that should come out weekly.
So, we have to work with the little information that ops/oms tells us:
- That it is not a wild virus (which is good)
- That it is derived from the Sabin P3 vaccine. Which does not speak badly of the vaccine, but of the low coverage of it in Venezuela and I proceed to explain why.
Venezuela has the worst coverage of the polio vaccine on the continent and is the third country in the Americas with the most children who have not received any vaccine. Only surpassed by much more populated countries such as Brazil and Mexico.
That is why a dose of the oral vaccine (which is good and necessary in Venezuela) can cause such a mess. Because the virus circulates for more than a year among poorly vaccinated populations and ends up mutating into a version capable of making people sick.
What should we do? The first thing is that the Ministry of Health explains this to us in detail. They should have already declared a health emergency. The second thing is that they give us the plan to follow, which has to include mass vaccination days and an information campaign.
In the meantime, people need to be told that the vaccine is safe and that it should be given to all children who have pending doses and even to booster doses for those who have already been vaccinated.