Epidemia de esquistossomose aguda na praia de Porto de Galinhas, Pernambuco, Brasil

• Autor(a) principal: Barbosa, Constança Simões
• Data de Publicação: 2001
• Outros Autores: Domingues, Ana Lúcia Coutinho, Abath, Frederico, Montenegro, Silvia Maria Lucena, Guida, Ubiracy, Carneiro, Jefferson, Tabosa, Barnabé, Moraes, Clarice N. Lins de, Spinelli, Vitorino
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Cadernos de Saúde Pública
• Texto Completo: https://cadernos.ensp.fiocruz.br/ojs/index.php/csp/article/view/1503
• topic: Esquistossomose Aguda; Controle da Esquistossomose; Surto de Esquistossomose

We recently confirmed several cases of acute schistosomiasis in Porto de Galinhas beach, Northeast Brazil. A total of 662 patients were diagnosed by parasitological and clinical examinations. The infection likely occurred during the September 7 national holiday, when heavy rainfall flooded the Ipojuca River and people were infected when the water covered their yards. Families were continuously exposed to infection for a period of three weeks until the water had completely dried up. Previous investigation suggests that snail vectors were introduced as a result of landfill in marshy areas. The swamp-flooding of such areas facilitated the emergence of slums surrounded by snail breeding sites. Heavy rainfall caused open-air sewage ditches to overflow, allowing for infection of snails by Schistosoma mansoni. Thus, continuous floods were responsible for the spread of human infection. Clinical and laboratory results identified 62% of acute cases of S. mansoni. Complementary studies are being conducted to define the impact and epidemiological meaning of the acute schistosomiasis outbreak.