Dinâmica ecológica de potenciais vetores de riquétsias e aspectos de vulnerabilidade para febre maculosa no Estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil

Abstract

Spotted Fever (SF) is a disease caused by bacteria of the genus Rickettsia, transmitted mainly by ticks. With varied eco-epidemiological scenarios in the country, it is the main disease transmitted by ticks to humans in Brazil and the State of Minas Gerais is the third in numbers of cases of the disease. Knowing the transmission aspects of the disease in the State, helps to understand their behavior and brings better strategies for prevention, control and awareness of the population, generating better preventive strategies for the health service. In order to deepen the interpretation of the epidemiological information of FM cases in MG in the light of the records that occurred between 2007 and 2019, a descriptive epidemiological study was carried out using data from SINAN. Data analysis was performed using Python programming language, Pandas library and map making by Qgis. Molecular analyzes were performed to identify the bioagent in biological samples collected by the MG Epidemiological Surveillance System, resulting from a case investigation. Of the 298 confirmed cases of FM in MG, 98 evolved to death, the number of cases increased from 2011 and the disease scenario showed a 32.8% lethality. Of the total cases, 207 (69.4%) were male, and among men and women, lethality was higher in the male group, 60.46%. The age group most affected is 30 to 59 years old and most patients reported having had contact with animals such as ticks, capybara and domestic animals. No deaths were observed in the Cerrado region of the State and the cases are concentrated in areas with artificial soil cover, characterizing the urbanization of the disease. The results corroborate with studies in areas of severe cases in Brazil. Despite FM case reports for the Cerrado Biome in MG, the analyzes show that serious cases occur in anthropized areas of the Atlantic Forest biomes and in a transition area between this and the Cerrado. Complex, longitudinal multidisciplinary studies, associated with ecoepidemiology, should be carried out in the search for the construction of algorithms capable of predicting, in time and space, the risk factors associated with severe cases and deaths from FM, seeking to avoid their expansion.