Ecoepidemiologia da esquistossomose mansônica, usando geotecnologias no município de Santo Amaro, Bahia, no período de 2006 - 2008

Abstract

The ecoepidemiological study of schistosomiasis is justified by the confirmed presence and persistence of this disease in the environment, with increasing rates of endemicity, which is now of paramount importance in understanding its increased prevalence and spatial dispersion within the city over the period of 2006 to 2008. The thematic maps of the administrative division by census tracts in the city of Santo Amaro, soil maps, MDT, hydrography, georeferenced epidemiological information of individuals, and the presence of shellfish in the area, will serve as a basis for the construction of an ecoepidemiological map of Schistosomiasis mansoni in the studied municipality, with delineation of favorable areas for disease spread. The classical methodology of the Schistosomiasis Control Program, based on the active search of patients with Schistosoma mansoni through periodic coproscopic surveys and treatment of positive patients with specific drugs, has not been able to reduce the magnitude of this disease. The spread of this disease has brought up questioning of the current methodology and a search for new strategies. Following the guidance of the World Health Organization, which delineates the approach to risk studies of endemic diseases in underdeveloped and developing countries, this study aims to define the geographical areas favourable for schistosomiasis in Santo Amaro, Bahia through the use of geotechnologies; and to establish an ecoepidemiological profile, contributing to a process of reshaping and adapting strategies of programs designed to control this disease in the municipality of Santo Amaro. The work includes an interdisciplinary approach integrating digital biogeography, ecology, epidemiology, hydrology, limnology, parasitology, malacology, and geoprocessing, which together will generate research hypothesis and serve to answer them.