Resumen

BARRADAS, Rita de Cássia Barata. O desafio das doenças emergentes e a revalorização da epidemiologia descritiva^*. Inf. Epidemiol. Sus [online]. 1999, vol.8, n.1, pp.7-15. ISSN 0104-1673.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5123/S0104-16731999000100002.

This paper focuses on emergent and re-emergent diseases, presenting their definition, patterns of ocurrence during the last 25 years, and the determinants of this ocurrence. It also emphasizes the importance of descriptive epidemiology and its use in the investigation of these health problems, especially in view of epidemiologists' tendency to give less attention to it. Finally, it mentions the challenges that emergent diseases bring to the practice of Public Health and also for the methodological development of descriptive epidemiology. These challenges are considered in three fields: biosecurity, surveillance systems and descriptive epidemiology techniques.

Palabras clave : Descriptive Epidemiology; Transmissible Diseases; Emergent and Re-emergent Diseases.

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