ABSTRACT
Chagas disease is among the 21
neglected diseases according to the
World Health Organization. This study aimed to investigate the
morbidity and
mortality distribution of
Chagas disease for identifying areas with greater
prevalences and deaths of the
disease in Northeast
Brazil. A
population-based ecological study was performed from 2016 to 2018 using data on acute
Chagas disease patients from the
Disease Notification Information System, chronic cases from the
Chagas Disease and the
referral Heart Failure Outpatient Clinic in Pernambuco, and
Chagas disease-related
mortality from the
Mortality Information System. The unit of
analysis were Pernambuco
State mesoregions. The
indicators were spatialized into thematic maps on the occurrence and
mortality of the
disease per 100,000 inhabitants. No cases of
acute disease were reported in the period analyzed. Data on 801 chronic
Chagas disease patients were analyzed. The
population showed an average age of 62 years, with
female predominance. The most prevalent
comorbidity was systemic arterial
hypertension and cardiologic involvement without
ventricular dysfunction. The average
chronic disease occurrence rate was 3.2/ 100,000 people/ year. As for deaths in the
mortality system; in total, 350 deaths were recorded, showing
male predominance, age ≥ 60 years, and
chronic disease with cardiac involvement as the main
mortality cause. The annual average
mortality proportion was 1.6/100,000 people. The chronic case distribution showed spatial heterogeneity, with the highest rates of
chronic disease and deaths observed in two mesoregions, with the main
cause of death being
heart-related. This highlights the need for more specialized services in areas with higher burden of the
disease to avoid delay in the
patients' care.