The authors provide a brief report on the historical evolution of visceral leishmaniasis in the State of Maranhão, Brazil, evaluating possible factors for growth of the disease in the State and control measures by the Brazilian Ministry of Health to integrate health services into the maintenance of control programs.
The authors analysed the visceral leishmaniasis (VL) aspects in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, from 1982 to 1993. The disease happens to occur predominantly in São Luís Island (MA) and during the epidemic period, town of São Luís was pointed out as the main endemic area. The greatest frequency of cases occurred in 1993, despite the use of insecticide and dogs control. There was predominance of age between 0- to 4-year-old population with 58.04% of cases. Neither the human disease nor the rainfall index had significant seasonal variation. However they were correlated moderately, with high number of cases after the period of great precipitation of rain. After this study, the data obtained will allow a better control of the disease, despite some factors such as: the urbanization, localization and dynamic of transmission in endemic areas in the Maranhão state.
Visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar) was definitively an important disease of the state of Maranhão, Brasil since 1982. Since of then, many authors have been working with this topic in spite of reports. Nevertheless, the aspects of diagnosis, treatment an control of cure went through still hard worried the authors have been studying the disease, that came at São Luís Island since of the destabilization of the ecotopes of Lutzomya longipalpis, most important sandflies bites. After 1993 the constatation of cases with bad response to pentavalent antimonial (Glucantime) comes to add the other worries. This actual trial accost the disease and conclude about an existence of failures to Glucantime being important to have much vigilance in the diagnosis, treatment and control of cure of the patients.
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