Malaria is still a major public health problem in Brazil, with approximately 306 000 registered cases in 2009, but it is estimated that in the early 1940s, around six million cases of malaria occurred each year. As a result of the fight against the disease, the number of malaria cases decreased over the years and the smallest numbers of cases to-date were recorded in the 1960s. From the mid-1960s onwards, Brazil underwent a rapid and disorganized settlement process in the Amazon and this migratory movement led to a progressive increase in the number of reported cases. Although the main mosquito vector (Anopheles darlingi) is present in about 80% of the country, currently the incidence of malaria in Brazil is almost exclusively (99,8% of the cases) restricted to the region of the Amazon Basin, where a number of combined factors favors disease transmission and impair the use of standard control procedures. Plasmodium vivax accounts for 83,7% of registered cases, while Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for 16,3% and Plasmodium malariae is seldom observed. Although vivax malaria is thought to cause little mortality, compared to falciparum malaria, it accounts for much of the morbidity and for huge burdens on the prosperity of endemic communities. However, in the last few years a pattern of unusual clinical complications with fatal cases associated with P. vivax have been reported in Brazil and this is a matter of concern for Brazilian malariologists. In addition, the emergence of P. vivax strains resistant to chloroquine in some reports needs to be further investigated. In contrast, asymptomatic infection by P. falciparum and P. vivax has been detected in epidemiological studies in the states of Rondonia and Amazonas, indicating probably a pattern of clinical immunity in both autochthonous and migrant populations. Seropidemiological studies investigating the type of immune responses elicited in naturally-exposed populations to several malaria vaccine candidates in Brazilian populations have also been providing important information on whether immune responses specific to these antigens are generated in natural infections and their immunogenic potential as vaccine candidates. The present difficulties in reducing economic and social risk factors that determine the incidence of malaria in the Amazon Region render impracticable its elimination in the region. As a result, a malaria-integrated control effort - as a joint action on the part of the government and the population - directed towards the elimination or reduction of the risks of death or illness, is the direction adopted by the Brazilian government in the fight against the disease.

We discuss the complex eco-social factors involved in the puzzle of the unexpected rapid viral spread in the ongoing Brazilian yellow fever (YF) outbreak, which has increased the reurbanisation risk of a disease without urban cases in Brazil since 1942. Indeed, this rapid spatial viral dissemination to the Southeast and South regions, now circulating in the Atlantic Forest fragments close to peri-urban areas of the main Brazilian megalopolises (São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro) has led to an exponential increase in the number of yellow fever cases. In less than 18 months, 1,833 confirmed cases and 578 deaths were recorded most of them reported in the Southeast region (99,9%). Large epizooties in monkeys and other non-human primates (NHPs) were communicated in the country with 732 YF virus (YFV) laboratory confirmed events only in the 2017/2018 monitoring period. We also discuss the peculiarities and similarities of the current outbreak when compared with previous great epidemics, examining several hypotheses to explain the recent unexpected acceleration of epizootic waves in the sylvatic cycle of the YFV together with the role of human, NHPs and mosquito mobility with respect to viral spread. We conclude that the most feasible hypothesis to explain this rapidity would be related to human behavior combined with ecological changes that promoted a significant increase in mosquito and NHP densities and their contacts with humans. We emphasize the urgent need for an adequate response to this outbreak such as extending immunisation coverage to the whole Brazilian population and developing novel strategies for immunisation of NHPs confined in selected reserve areas and zoos. Finally, we stress the urgent need to improve the quality of response in order to prevent future outbreaks and a catastrophic reurbanisation of the disease in Brazil and other South American countries. Continuous monitoring of YFV receptivity and vulnerability conditions with effective control of the urban vector Aedes aegypti and significant investments in YF vaccine production capacity and research and development for reduction of adverse effects are of the highest priority.

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and severity of dental caries and the need for dental treatment among schoolchildren in two small Brazilian counties. WHO criteria (1986) for the diagnosis of dental caries and treatment needs were adopted. All 6 to 12-year-old schoolchildren in both São João do Sul (n = 803) and Treviso (n = 382), both in the State of Santa Catarina, were invited to participate in the study. The response rate was 96% and 91% respectively. All kappa values for inter- and intra-examiner agreement were greater than 0.62. Prevalence of caries among 6 to 12-year-old children was 62.1% in São João do Sul and 63.6% in Treviso. Mean DMF-T for the same age group was 1.91 and 1.84 respectively. Need for treatment was high in both counties, however it was mainly related to simple clinical procedures. In conclusion, prevalence of dental caries among 6 to 12-year-old schoolchildren was lower in the two small counties studied than in other small communities in Brazil. The need for treatment was great, but it was related to simple clinical procedures. In addition, there is a need to collect further data from small towns to develop an oral health strategy appropriate to such areas.

Demographic changes occurring in underdeveloped countries due to intense rural-urban migration since the 1960s have resulted in overcrowded cities

We found a prevalence of undiagnosed CD of 1:681 among apparently healthy blood donors. These preliminary results support the view that CD is not a rare disease in Brazil.

This paper reviews malaria control initiatives in Brazil, from the Malaria Eradication Campaign (Campanha de Erradicação da Malária), which was launched in 1965 and was based on spraying dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and on administering antimalarial drugs, to the implementation, in 2000, of the Program for Intensification of Malaria Control in the nine-state Legal Amazon region of Brazil (Plano de Intensificação das Ações de Controle da Malária na Amazônia Legal), which was implemented in response to the World Health Organization's Roll Back Malaria effort. Among the Brazilian initiatives discussed are epidemiological stratification, the Impact Operation (Operação Impacto), the Amazon Basin Malaria Control Project (Projeto de Controle da Malária na Bacia Amazônica), and the Integrated Malaria Control Program (Programa de Controle Integrado da Malária). Although there was progress in the control of malaria before the Intensification Program was launched in 2000, the actions carried out were not sustained. From 1998 to 1999 there was even a 34% increase in the number of malaria cases in the Brazilian Amazon. The Intensification Program set a goal, in comparison to 1999, of reducing by 50% the number of malaria cases by the end of 2001 and of cutting by 50% the mortality due to malaria by the end of 2002. Data for 2001 showed an overall 39% decrease in the number of malaria cases in the nine Amazonian states of the Intensification Program. The smallest decrease (15%) was in the state of Amapá, where the plan was not implemented until the second half of 2001. In terms of incidence by species, there was a 35% reduction in cases caused by Plasmodium falciparum and a 41% reduction in cases caused by P. vivax. The only independent variable that explains this reduction is the implementation of the Intensification Program. Although preliminary, these results indicate considerable gains. Decisive to this progress has been the strong mobilization of federal, state, and municipal governments.

The impact of the Schistosomiasis Control Programme (PCE)

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