Spatial distribution of dengue disease in municipality of Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, using the Geographic Information System

• Autor(a) principal: Bessa Júnior,Francisco Narcísio
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: Nunes,Renan Flávio de França, Souza,Marcos Antonio de, Medeiros,Antônio Carlos de, Marinho,Maria Jocileide de Medeiros, Pereira,Wogelsanger Oliveira
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista brasileira de epidemiologia (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1415-790X2013000300603
• topic: Spatial Analysis; Epidemiology; Dengue; Dengue hemorrhagic fever

The dengue viral infection is one of the most relevant vector-borne diseases in the world. The disease can manifest in a variety of forms, from asymptomatic to a condition of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). The last reported cases in Brazil correspond to 80% of the cases reported in the Americas, which emphasizes the magnitude of the problem. This study was conducted using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques, in order to evaluate the spatial distribution of the disease in the urban area of Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte. In the period between 2001 and 2007, 867 new cases were listed. About 85.7% of the addresses were georeferenced, with a larger number of cases, 14.8%, in the neighborhoods of Santo Antônio and Santa Delmira (north region), and 11.7% in the neighborhoods of Conjunto Vingt-Rosado and Alto de São Manoel (east region). There were 18 confirmed cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever associated with regions with the highest incidence of classic cases of the disease. The use of Geographic Information System (GIS) proved a great benefit for better visualization of the endemic, especially in elucidating the actual distribution of dengue cases in the county and providing an effective tool for planning the monitoring of the disease at a local level.