Surveillance,health promotion and control of Chagas disease in the
Amazon Region - Medical attention in the Brazilian Amazon Region: a
proposal |
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Authors: | José Rodrigues Coura Angela CV Junqueira |
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Institution: | Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil |
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Abstract: | We refer to Oswaldo Cruz''s reports dating from 1913 about the necessities of a
healthcare system for the Brazilian Amazon Region and about the journey of Carlos
Chagas to 27 locations in this region and the measures that would need to be adopted.
We discuss the risks of endemicity of Chagas disease in the Amazon Region. We
recommend that epidemiological surveillance of Chagas disease in the Brazilian Amazon
Region and Pan-Amazon region should be implemented through continuous monitoring of
the human population that lives in the area, their housing, the environment and the
presence of triatomines. The monitoring should be performed with periodic
seroepidemiological surveys, semi-annual visits to homes by health agents and the
training of malaria microscopists and healthcare technicians to identify
Trypanosoma cruzi from patients'' samples and T.
cruzi infection rates among the triatomines caught. We recommend health
promotion and control of Chagas disease through public health policies, especially
through sanitary education regarding the risk factors for Chagas disease. Finally, we
propose a healthcare system through base hospitals, intermediate-level units in the
areas of the Brazilian Amazon Region and air transportation, considering the
distances to be covered for medical care. |
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Keywords: | surveillance health promotion control Chagas disease Brazilian Amazon Region |
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