Socioeconomic studies of schistosomiasis in Brazil: A review

Abstract

This review finds considerable evidence that socioeconomic status has significantly influenced the transmission, spread and treatment of schistosomiasis in Brazil. High infection rates persist among both the rural and urban poor. Rural living, poor housing and water supplies and low educational level were major factors in schistosomiasis occurrence among agricultural populations. In urban areas, prevailing living conditions in shantytowns and labor migrations from and periodic return movements to rural areas were predictive of schistosomiasis. The risk of the establishment of new transmission foci exists in both rural and urban areas, conferred by and affecting poorer people. Associations between schistosomiasis and socioeconomic parameters, persisting inequities in health services accessibility, prevailing health impacts of schistosomiasis, and the ongoing decentralization of health services point to opportunities and strategies for focused interventions aimed at promoting health-enhancing behavior and living conditions and improving access to health care. The authors call for multidisciplinary studies to better examine the complexities of the socioeconomic environment in relation to schistosomiasis and for economic programs to reduce prevailing socioeconomic inequalities.

Validação de um protocolo para o teste de caminhada de seis minutos em esteira para avaliação de pacientes com hipertensão arterial pulmonar

“…This subgroup of patients was expected because of the prevalence of this disease in Brazil, (14,15) and it can explain the proportion of functional class I/II patients found in our sample. Schistosomiasis was not included in the PAH group, according to the classification of the International Symposium of Pulmonary Hypertension held in Venice in 2003, when the present study was designed.…”

The role of population movement in the epidemiology and control of schistosomiasis in Brazil: a preliminary typology of population movement

“…Circulation involves movements that last from one day to more than a year; they are classified here according to time scale. Daily circulation involves leaving a place of residence for a period up to 24 h. A number of epidemiological studies of schistosomiasis in Brazil and Africa have reported daily circulation movements by housewives, farmers, people visiting relatives and students attending school, among others (Ruyssenaars et al 1973, Lima e Costa et al 1987, 1998, Gazzinelli & Kloos 2007, Kloos et al 2008. Perhaps the most common daily movements in rural areas are trips to household water sites at streams and other potential transmission sites; the patterns and epidemiological risks of these movements have been identified and spatially analysed in a number of studies (Kloos et al 1998, Friedman et al 2001.…”

“…Groups with low socioeconomic status generally have a higher risk of contracting schistosomiasis and of being affected by the disease for an extended period of time. This risk is related to a variety of factors that include a lack of access to safe water and to health services (Ximenes et al 2003, Kloos et al 2008, Watts 2008. Population movements affect all areas and communities that are vulnerable to schistosomiasis in Brazil.…”

Control of Schistosomiasis

“…The provision of alternative sources of safe water, such as piped water, wells, water tanks and laundry areas for domestic and recreational uses, contributed to effective reduction in the rate of transmission and re-infection (Kloos et al, 2008). As an experimental control measure to reduce the transmission of S. mansoni, an individual household water supply was provided in 400 houses in 5 rural settlements of the Riche Fond Valley, St Lucia (Jordan et al, 1975).…”