Identification of urban leprosy clusters.

Overpopulation of urban areas results from constant migrations that cause disordered urban growth, constituting clusters defined as sets of people or activities concentrated in relatively small physical spaces that often involve precarious conditions. Aim. Using residential grouping, the aim was to identify possible clusters of individuals in São José do Rio Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil, who have or have had leprosy. Methods. A population-based, descriptive, ecological study using the MapInfo and CrimeStat techniques, geoprocessing, and space-time analysis evaluated the location of 425 people treated for leprosy between 1998 and 2010. Clusters were defined as concentrations of at least 8 people with leprosy; a distance of up to 300 meters between residences was adopted. Additionally, the year of starting treatment and the clinical forms of the disease were analyzed. Results. Ninety-eight (23.1%) of 425 geocoded cases were located within one of ten clusters identified in this study, and 129 cases (30.3%) were in the region of a second-order cluster, an area considered of high risk for the disease. Conclusion. This study identified ten clusters of leprosy cases in the city and identified an area of high risk for the appearance of new cases of the disease.

[Creation of a data bank for sustainability of leprosy post elimination]. / Criação de banco de dados para sustentação da pós-eliminação em hanseníase.

São José do Rio Preto reached the World Health Organization goal eliminating leprosy as a Public Health problem in the year 2006, with a prevalence of 0.79/10,000 inhabitants. In order to warrant reliable information to promote management measures that keep this status, the aim of this study was to create a leprosy data bank in the city with information from 1998 to 2006. A data collection protocol was used and it contained 74 clinical-epidemiological variables that were gathered from primary and secondary sources. This work was initiated with 442 cases registered in the municipal control program database, from those 168 were excluded and 85 were inserted. There were 24 cases not notified in the National Information System (SINAN). The 74 variables collected will allow further studies about themes: epidemiological profiles, household contacts control, reactions and deficiencies, and others. The difficulties faced during the elaboration of the database were related to decoding medical files data and inconsistency in the SINAN. The frequent mistakes while entering the data weaken the information system and difficult the plan of precise actions regarding health. These facts are relevant to the quality of attention and the maintenance of the leprosy elimination status.

Geoprocessamento em Saúde Pública: fundamentos e aplicações / Use of geo-processing system in Public Health: principles and applications

Neste trabalho foi averiguado o uso do geoprocessamento como ferramenta para realizar pesquisa e como subsídio para efetuar planejamento de ações em saúde pública. Diversos investigadores têm citado a construção de sistema de vigilância da saúde orientado por um modelo de análise de situações de risco,em substituição ao modelo de risco individual. Esta alternativa, que utiliza o espaço como referência,tem potencialmente mostrado maior poder explicativo por expressar diferentes acessos aos bens e aos serviços de infraestrutura urbana. Com o sistema de geoprocessamento, torna-se possível observar os fatores socioeconômicos, assim como a utilização e as formas de ocupação de áreas. Além disso, podem ser obtidos dados relevantes para efetuar o controle da vigilância em relação à saúde e ao meio ambiente construído e habitado. O uso do geoprocessamento constitui uma importante ferramenta para realizara identificação, a localização e o acompanhamento de populações, principalmente nas periferias dos grandes centros urbanos. Este sistema contribui, ainda, para desenvolver os estudos de transmissão, de disseminação e, ainda, das ações de controle das doenças e dos agravos de saúde de uma determinada área de abrangência.

In the present study is described the importance of the geographic information system (GIS) as a toolfor performing research and as a subsidy for action planning in public health. Many investigators havedescribed the construction of a health surveillance system based on a model to analyze the risk situations,aiming at replacing the individual risk model. This option employs the space as a reference, whichpotentially holds greater explanatory power for expressing different approaches to the profits and servicesfor urban infrastructure. The geo-processing allows to observe the socioeconomic factors, the ways andthe use of occupying the inhabited areas, to acquire relevant data for monitoring the sanitary surveillance,and also built and inhabited environment. The geo-processing works as an important tool for performingthe identification, location and follow-up of populations. Therefore, the geo-processing contributes to thestudy on transmission, distribution and actions directed to the diseases and health problems control in agiven scope area.

Criação de banco de dados para sustentação da pós-eliminação em hanseníase / Creation of a data bank for sustainability of leprosy post elimination

São José do Rio Preto atingiu o parâmetro da Organização Mundial de Saúde de eliminação da hanseníase como problema de saúde pública em 2006, com prevalência de 0,79/10.000 habitantes. Para garantir informações fidedignas que permitam medidas gerenciais e manutenção deste quadro, o objetivo do estudo foi criar um banco de dados da hanseníase do município, no período de 1998 a 2006. Utilizou-se protocolo para coleta de dados de 74 variáveis clínico-epidemiológicas encontradas em fontes primárias e secundárias. Iniciou-se o trabalho com 442 casos existentes nas informações de dados do programa de controle do município; destes, 168 foram excluídos e 85 inseridos; 24 não haviam sido notificados no Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (SINAN). As 74 variáveis coletadas possibilitarão estudo posterior de temas, como o perfil epidemiológico, controle de comunicantes, reações, deficiências, entre outros. As dificuldades encontradas na elaboração do banco foram em relação à decodificação de dados dos prontuários e inconsistências nas anotações do SINAN. Os erros no registro dos dados ocorrem com frequência, debilitando informações e dificultando o planejamento das ações na área, fatores importantes para qualidade do atendimento e sustentação da eliminação da hanseníase.

São José do Rio Preto reached the World Health Organization goal eliminating leprosy as a Public Health problem in the year 2006, with a prevalence of 0.79/10,000 inhabitants. In order to warrant reliable information to promote management measures that keep this status, the aim of this study was to create a leprosy data bank in the city with information from 1998 to 2006. A data collection protocol was used and it contained 74 clinical-epidemiological variables that were gathered from primary and secondary sources. This work was initiated with 442 cases registered in the municipal control program database, from those 168 were excluded and 85 were inserted. There were 24 cases not notified in the National Information System (SINAN). The 74 variables collected will allow further studies about themes: epidemiological profiles, household contacts control, reactions and deficiencies, and others. The difficulties faced during the elaboration of the database were related to decoding medical files data and inconsistency in the SINAN. The frequent mistakes while entering the data weaken the information system and difficult the plan of precise actions regarding health. These facts are relevant to the quality of attention and the maintenance of the leprosy elimination status.