Neurophysiological findings in central nervous system in chronic Chagas Disease

Abstract

s of the 5th Latin American Congress of Clinical Neurophysiology / Clinical Neurophysiology 119 (2008), S143–S177 S153 in 2002. Three other WHO administrative regions remain to be certified: Western Mediterranean, Southeastern Asia and Africa. The cornerstone of eradication is epidemiological vigilance, consisting of notification and investigation of all suspected cases. For this, all cases of acute flaccid paralysis in children under the age of 15 should be considered suspected polio, independent of the diagnostic belief of the attending physician. Vaccination campaigns yield fantastic results. For example, in Brazil the last case of wild poliomyelitis occurred in 1989. The results achieved by the first for years of the Brazilian national vaccination efforts motivated the Pan-American Health Organization to launch a similar program for the Americas in 1985 and to start a worldwide eradication effort in 1998. Almost all Latin-American countries maintain only routine vaccinations, achieving greater than 90% coverage in the last 10 years. The greatest concern is that, despite all efforts, the wild virus is still circulating in the world, among people from countries that have not achieved eradication. We, in Latin America, are frequently visited by people originating in some of these areas. Another concern is the belief by health professionals, especially we doctors, that polio is a disease of the past. With this in mind, when faced with a flaccid paralysis, we tend to act only as clinicians and not as public health officers, forgetting the very important act of notifying our community health authorities. DS1.10 Neurophysiological findings in central nervous system in chronic Chagas Disease