Magnitude e distribuição dos óbitos por hantavirose no Brasil, 2007-2015 / Magnitud y distribución de las muertes por hantavirose no Brasil, 2007-2015 / Magnitude and distribution of deaths due to hantavirus in Brazil, 2007-2015

Objetivo: descrever a magnitude e a distribuição temporal e espacial dos casos e óbitos por hantavirose no Brasil, de 2007 a 2015. Métodos: estudo descritivo, com dados do Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (Sinan). Resultados: foram notificados 1.060 casos e 410 óbitos no período; a letalidade por hantavirose foi de 39,0%, variando segundo mês (de 28,6% em novembro a 50,7% em dezembro), sexo (37,4% no masculino e 42,6% no feminino), idade (maior letalidade em idosos e crianças) e regiões nacionais (46,2% no Norte, 32,9% no Sul); a maioria dos indivíduos que morreram morava em zona urbana (58,3%) e foi infectada na zona rural (70,2%). Conclusão: a alta letalidade em certos grupos populacionais, meses do ano e regiões do Brasil aponta para baixa suspeição clínica da doença em grupos pouco expostos, o que pode comprometer seu manejo adequado.

Objetivo: describir la magnitud y la distribución temporal y espacial de los casos y muertes por hantavirus en Brasil, de 2007 a 2015. Métodos: estudio descriptivo, con datos del Sistema de Información de Agravios de Notificación (Sinan). Resultados: se notificaron 1.060 casos y 410 muertes en este período; la mortalidad por hantavirus fue 39,0%, variando por mes (28,6% en noviembre a 50,7% en diciembre), sexo (37,4% en el masculino y 42,6% en el femenino), edad (mayor letalidad en ancianos y niños) y regiones nacionales (46,2% en el Norte, 32,9% en el Sur); la mayoría de los individuos que murieron vivían en zona urbana (58,3%) y se infectaron en la zona rural (70,2%). Conclusión: la alta letalidad en ciertos grupos poblacionales, meses del año y regiones de Brasil apuntan a baja sospecha clínica de la enfermedad en grupos poco expuestos, lo que puede comprometer su manejo adecuado.

Objective: to describe the magnitude and temporal and spatial distribution of hantavirus cases and deaths in Brazil between 2007 and 2015. Methods: descriptive study with data from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN). Results: 1,060 cases and 410 deaths were reported in the period; hantavirus lethality was 39.0%, varying according to month (from 28.6% in November to 50.7% in December), sex (37.4% in males and 42.6% in females), age (higher lethality in the elderly and children) and Brazilian regions (46.2% in the North, 32.9% in the South); most of the individuals who died lived in urban areas (58.3%) and were infected in rural area (70.2%). Conclusion: high lethality in certain population groups, months of the year and regions of Brazil point to low clinical suspicion of the disease in groups with low exposure, which may compromise proper case management.

An update on the epidemiological situation of spotted fever in Brazil

Background Spotted fever is a tick-borne rickettsial disease. In Brazil, its notification to the Ministry of Health is compulsory. Since 2007, cases of spotted fever have been integrated to the Notifiable Diseases Information System, and epidemiological analyzes are part of the routines on surveillance programs. Methods This descriptive study updates epidemiological information on cases of spotted fever registered in Brazil between 2007 and 2015. Results In Brazil, 17,117 suspected cases of the disease were reported and 1,245 were confirmed in 12 states, mainly in São Paulo (550, 44.2 %) and Santa Catarina (276, 22.2 %). No geographic information was registered for 132 cases (10.6 %). Most of the infected people were men (70.9 %), mainly in rural areas (539, 43.3 %), who had contact with ticks (72.7 %). A higher number of suspected cases were registered between 2011 and 2015, but the number of confirmed cases and the incidence were relatively low. Moreover, 411 deaths were registered between 2007 and 2015, mainly in the southeastern region of the country, where the case-fatality rate was 55 %. Lack of proper filling of important fields of notification forms was also observed. Conclusions The results showed expansion of suspected cases of spotted fever and high case-fatality rates, which could be related to diagnostic difficulties and lack of prompt treatment. These factors may comprise limitations to the epidemiological surveillance system in Brazil, hence improvement of notification and investigation are crucial to reduce morbidity and mortality due to spotted fever in Brazil.(AU)