[Cesarean sections: an epidemic profile]. / Cesáreas: um perfil epidêmico.

This study characterizes cesarean rates among women giving birth in São José do Rio Preto in 1992. Household interviews were conducted with 553 women selected through records on live births. Estimated incidence of cesarean sections was 80.5%, highlighting the procedure's widespread use in the study sample. Confirming a prior hypothesis, cesarean rates increased with parity and were statistically associated with age and tubal ligation. As for socioeconomic status, cesarean rates increased according to income and were higher among women using private health care (with or without health insurance). Interviews with professors in the local medical school and a related survey of the local media showed an increase in the valorization of cesareans. Confirming this trend, women interviewed in the survey expressed their own active valorization of this procedure.

[Results of activities encouraging community participation in dengue control in an outlying neighborhood of São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, and the relationship between the population's knowledge and habits]. / Avaliação dos resultados de atividades de incentivo à participação da comunidade no controle da dengue em um bairro periférico do Município de São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, e da relação entre conhecimentos e práticas desta população.

This study evaluates the results of an educational campaign developed in an outlying neighborhood of São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, and the relationship between the population's knowledge and habits. Prior to and after the educational activities, samples were taken to measure level of knowledge concerning dengue and its vectors, breeding sites, and control measures. Potential breeding sites were also counted. Knowledge of the disease and its vectors and breeding sites increased, but the same was not true for control measures focusing on water recipients serving as potential breeding sites. There was no change in the number of breeding sites between the first and second stages of the research. Thus, despite increased knowledge, the local population's habits did not changes. These findings are worrisome, since the main goal of the educational campaign, i.e., the change of habits concerning breeding sites for dengue vectors, has not been achieved.