Abstract

PARISE, Éldi Vendrame; ARAUJO, Gessi Carvalho de  and  CASTRO, José Gerley Díaz. Epidemiological status of malaria in the State of Tocantins, Brazil, after its political and administrative emancipation, 1989 to 2009. Epidemiol. Serv. Saúde [online]. 2012, vol.21, n.1, pp.129-140. ISSN 1679-4974.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5123/S1679-49742012000100013.

OBJECTIVE: the study aims to describe the main epidemiological indicators of malaria in the State of Tocantins, Brazil, and compare it those of Amazon region data, from 1999 to 2009. METHODS: descriptive analysis on secondary data of Malaria Surveillance System (SISMAL) and Malaria Epidemiological Surveillance Information System (SIVEP-malaria), Health Surveillance Secretariat, Ministry of Health. RESULTS: Tocantins registered 5,679 cases of malaria in 1989 and 129 cases in 2009; in this period of 20 years, the annual parasite incidence decreased 94%; imported cases prevailed over indigenous ones throughout the historical series; the indicator of hospital admissions for malaria remained high; Plasmodium vivax was the major cause of morbidity. CONCLUSIONS: Tocantins is classified as low risk area for malaria, similar to the epidemiological status of Brazilian States not included in the Amazon region; however, because of imported cases, the joint effort of local institutions needs to continue active to detect early signs of the disease and to prevent new isolated cases.

Keywords : malaria; epidemiology; Plasmodium; parasitology.

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