Preliminary data obtained during a six month stay
by Biagio Frate, Professional Nurse, at the Sao Pedro health Post,
Rio Jauaperí, Brasil
Families in the communities assisted by the health post.
Age of the population treated at the health post.
Degree of Education of the Communities
Persons who use a Domestic Latrine
Consultations at the Sao Pedro Health Post
Number of Visits per Pathology Presented
Malaria of P. falciparum and P. vivax
Geoelmintiasis in the
feces
Family nuclei e number of members per family in
the communities assisted by the health post.
| Samauma | |||
| Sao Pedro | |||
| Xixuaú | |||
| Xiparinã | |||
| TOTAL |
Average number of members per family : 6
Average per community
| Samauma | |
| Sao Pedro | |
| Xixuaú | |
| Xiparinã |
Distribution by age of the population treated
at the health post.
| Age | Subjects | Percent |
| less than 1 year | ||
| 1 - 5 | ||
| 6 - 12 | ||
| Over 12 | ||
| TOTAL |
Half of the subjects in the communities are less
than 12 years old. We think this data can be applied to the other
local communities as well, in order to establish the age groups
which should receive priority.
Degree of Education of the Communities
| Education | ||
| Total lack | ||
| Some | ||
| Total |
Note
See annex 2 for details on:
a: degree of education
b: degree of education by age
Although education is limited to around 31% of the
population it is the norm among youngsters of less than 15; this
gives hope for the future and a stimulus to work in this direction.
Use of Domestic Latrine
| Community | |||
| Samauma | |||
| Sao Pedro | 31 | ||
| Xixuaú | 11 | ||
| Xiparinã | 4 |
40% of the subjects have a domestic latrine. This
is comforting and provides stimulus to increase the number of
latrines in the communities and make their use more efficient.
The state of existing latrines is generally not good, and, in
this sense, they could be improved.
Note
See annex 3 for analyses of significance of degree
of latrinisation of the community of the Xixuaú compared
to the others
Total number of consultations from 01 September
1996 to 31 January 1997 at the Sao Pedro Health Post
| Number of consultations | |
| Number of consultations/inhabitants | |
| Number of consultations/day |
All the families in the communities needed to consult
the health Post. This confirms that the existence of this structure
is not only important for the diagnosis and treatment of the more
common pathologies in the area, but that it can also become in
the future and reference centre for a larger area and can be considered
an important point of surveillance for illnesses of greatest public
health impact in this geographical area.
Number of Visits per Pathology Presented
| Pathology | ||
| Malaria* | ||
| "Non malaric" Fevers | 52 | 34 |
| Odontiatric pathology | 36 | 23.5 |
| Conjunctivitis | 29 | 18.5 |
| Cutaneous Infections | 19 | 12.5 |
| Various traumatologies | 17 | 11.1 |
| Mycoses | 11 | 7.2 |
| Diarrhea | 9 | 5.9 |
| Otitis | 6 | 3.9 |
| Total | 260 | 100 |
* Cases of malaria of Plasmodium falciparum and
Plasmodium vivax diagnosed using a microscope and officially verified
and registered at the competent laboratory of the FNS in Novo
Ayrao
Malaria is the main reason for visits to the Health
Post. Therefore the value of microscope analyses is confirmed
with the objective of rapid and efficient pharmacological treatment,
especially in consideration of the existence of two species of
plasmodium which require different treatments.
Prevalence of Subjects with malaria of P.
falciparum and P. vivax per community of Residence
| Community | P. | falciparum | P. | vivax |
| Subjects | Percent | Subjects | Percent | |
| Samauma | 9 | 21 | 14 | 32.5 |
| Sao Pedro | 14 | 18.6 | 16 | 21.3 |
| Xixuaú | 10 | 58.8 | 8 | 47 |
| Xiparinã | 6 | 35.3 | 4 | 23.5 |
Both species of malaria constitute one of the main health problems in the area. The prevalence of consultations for this pathology differs in relation to the place of residence of the subjects. In some cases (Xixuaú) this difference is statistically significative, although this data must be interpreted with care in view of the limited number of observations.
Among the most urgent future priorities is that of
increasing epidemiological knowledge of malaria in a more complete
manner, in order to provide information useful for the application
and evaluation of control strategies.
Non malaric fevers are a frequent problem. We believe
that the most frequent cause can be attributed to acute infections
of the respiratory tracts, however it would be useful to have
a simplified protocol to help orientate diagnosis and treatment
of these forms.
The pathologies of odontiatric nature are not faithfully
represented by the total number of visits to the health post,
being much higher than those shown in the table. This is a priority
problem for the population, both in the sense of treatment for
the most common pathologies, and for an efficient programme of
control and prevention.
The other pathologies follow, but should not be considered
of less importance. The apparently low occurrence of acute gastroenteritis
needs study to discover the causes.
Prevalence of Geoelmintiasis
diagnosed by a corpo-parassitological examination of the feces
in two separate occasions
| Examination | ||
| Ascaris | ||
| Ascaris + Trichuris | 18 | 2 |
| Ascaris + ancylostomatidae | 7 | 1 |
| Trichuris + ancylostomatidae | 1 | 0 |
| Ascaris + Trichuris + ancylo | 6 | 0 |
| Negative examination | 0 | 12 |
| TOTAL | 46 | 27 |
Note
All 46 subjects analyses the first time were positive for the
presence of geoelmintis; they were all treated with mebendazolo
in single dose (400 mg) and in part controlled with corpoparassitological
examination after 3 months from treatment (Time 2)
Although not all the population was analysed and the numbers are to low to draw conclusions we can reasonably suspect, on the basis of the data acquired, that geoelmintiasis (Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, ancylostomatidae) are prevalent infections in the local communities and are thus a priority objective in the programme for improving the health of the population of the Rio Jauaperí.
This programme could be realised with the possibility
to: