What is it about?
The paper offers the reader the entire historical framework of entomological surveillance actions in the first active urban focus of Visceral Leishmaniasis in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Dealing quite directly with the role played by a small group of municipal environmental health surveillance technicians and who offered concrete evidence for the deliberation of sanitary actions in 2011 to eradicate two possible outbreaks of the disease in the Caju cemetery, located in Rio de Janeiro's port area. A neglected disease that is difficult to diagnose opportunely due to the characteristic chronicity that it presents in humans, visceral leishmaniasis was initially verified in a group of dogs irregularly established in an area adjacent to the cemetery administration, attached to the nosocomium of Santa Casa, classified as a place of permanence for the elderly, and the Parque São Sebastião slum, a place of high population agglomeration with low socioeconomic profile.
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Why is it important?
Visceral Leishmaniasis at the time was uncommon to be diagnosed in the city of Rio de Janeiro, being typically considered of external origin. However, this emblematic case was considered the cutoff point for the inclusion of this disease in the urban area of the city, which triggered local chemical containment actions, an active search for patients with hepatomegaly and splenomegaly, and measures to control dogs using collars. antiparasitic drugs and euthanasia of those who were considered positive for the disease. Even so, a few years later, a woman was diagnosed as positive for the disease in a university hospital in the city, most likely a resident of the favela and the owner of dogs infected by the protozoan that causes the disease in question. Unfortunately, this person died of complications related to Visceral Leishmaniasis.
Perspectives
Point out the importance of investing in health surveillance processes, in particular, in entomological surveillance of vector-transmitted diseases, since the use of environmental diagnosis is opportune, reducing the costs of health care interventions with an incentive for the production of strategic knowledge and prevention by the environmental control mechanisms that may be adopted by local health managers.
CLAUDIO MANUEL RODRIGUES
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: O papel da vigilância entomológica no primeiro foco ativo urbano de Leishmaniose Visceral do município do Rio de Janeiro, ABCS Health Sciences, May 2018, NEPAS,
DOI: 10.7322/abcshs.v43i1.1001.
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