Spatial distribution of tuberculosis cases in a priority Brazilian northeast municipality for control of the disease

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International Journal of Development Research

Volume: 
7
Article ID: 
10611
6 pages
Research Article

Spatial distribution of tuberculosis cases in a priority Brazilian northeast municipality for control of the disease

Marcelino Santos Neto, Mônica Ribeiro Sousa, Francisca Bárbara Gomes da Silva, Floriacy Stabnow Santos, Adriana Gomes Nogueira Ferreira, Lívia Maia Pascoal, Ana Cristina Pereira de Jesus Costa, Janaína Miranda Bezerra, Maria Aparecida Alves de Oliveira Serra, Ismália Cassandra Costa Maia Dias, Livia Fernanda Siqueira Santos, Iolanda Graepp Fontoura, Volmar Morais Fontoura, Wellyson da Cunha Araújo Firmo and Leonardo Hunaldo dos Santos

Abstract: 

The remarkable relation that tuberculosis has with social conditions demands anunderstanding of the dynamics of this aggravation and its occurrence in the territory through geospatial analyses. In this sense, the objective of the present study was to describe the spatial distribution of tuberculosis cases in a municipality in the Northeast Region of Brazil. This is an ecological study considering all cases of tuberculosis reported in the Disease Notification System from 2006 to 2015. The exploratory analysis ofcases included thekernel density estimationand spatial analysis of the area. There were 800 cases of tuberculosis, of which 761 (95.0%) were geocoded. Locations were found to be vulnerable to zero to 31.79 cases per square kilometer, with emphasis on the so-called hot areas, mainly in census sectors belonging to more centralized districts, expanding to peripheral districts. The prevalence of tuberculosis, according to census sectors, ranged from 0.00 to 213 cases/100 inhabitants-year, confirming the heterogeneous, non-random spatial distribution of cases. The study pointed to the need to develop disease control and surveillance actions, considering the intense socio-spatial inequalities of the municipality and the specific interventions, not only in the health area, but also intersectoral and collective interventions aimed at reducing social inequities.

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