UNSTABLE HYPOENDEMIC MALARIA IN RONDONIA (WESTERN AMAZON REGION, BRAZIL) - EPIDEMIC OUTBREAKS AND WORK-ASSOCIATED INCIDENCE IN AN AGROINDUSTRIAL RURAL SETTLEMENT
L. Marcelo et al., UNSTABLE HYPOENDEMIC MALARIA IN RONDONIA (WESTERN AMAZON REGION, BRAZIL) - EPIDEMIC OUTBREAKS AND WORK-ASSOCIATED INCIDENCE IN AN AGROINDUSTRIAL RURAL SETTLEMENT, The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 51(1), 1994, pp. 16-25
Citations number
17
Categorie Soggetti
Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath","Tropical Medicine
A longitudinal study was conducted from January 1991 to January 1992 o
n the Urupa farm, a rural agro-industrial forestry settlement in Rondo
nia state (Western Amazon Region, Brazil) to define the parasitologic
and clinical profile of malaria. Three cross-sectional, parasitologic,
and clinical surveys were performed. In the intervals between surveys
, malaria cases were monitored by twice a week medical visits to the f
arm and permanent local surveillance. The population of residents was
approximately 170 and was characterized by high mobility. The slide po
sitive rates found in the cross-sectional surveys were 0.5, 4.2 and 2.
1, respectively, for the total population (Plasmodium vivax plus P. fa
lciparum). Spleen rate values in children 2-9 years old were always le
ss than 1%. However, this basically hypoendemic malaria situation was
unstable, with occurrence of a typical epidemic outbreak at the end of
the dry season. The total number of malaria cases recorded from Janua
ry to December 1991 was 163, giving an annual parasite index of 970 pe
r 1,000 inhabitants. However, sex and age distribution of cases showed
rare incidence of malaria in infants and low incidence in children le
ss than the age of 10. Male adults 16-40 years of age represented the
main risk group. The observed clustering of cases allowed us to identi
fy the place of work as a factor responsible for high incidence of mal
aria among adults. The general epidemiologic profile indicated that in
doors transmission of malaria by the local Anopheles vector was low or
absent.