Analysis of the epidemiological situation of arboviruses dengue, zika and Chikungunya in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
Arbovirus Infections; Epidemiology; Health education.
Or accompanying the epidemiological behavior of arbovirosis of extreme relevancy, comprehensive comprehension of the regional reality and essential for the establishment of important strategies for the reduction of risk and vulnerability of individuals and communities, further adaptation of current public policies, not the local epidemiological context. Faced with the need for investigations that cover factors that may be associated with epidemics, this study aimed to analyze the epidemiological profile and geographical distribution of dengue, chikungunya and zika cases in the State of Rio Grande do Norte. It is an ecological study that analyzed all the confirmed cases of Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika in the System of Information of Notification Diseases (SINAN) during the period from 2015 to 2017, which totaled in a sample of 50,529 cases. These data were obtained through the forms of notification and investigation of the cases confirmed and available at the Public Health Secretariat of the State of Rio Grande do Norte (SESAP-RN). Data were treated using frequencies, central tendency measures (mean, median, standard deviation), incidence rate and thematic maps. Although the study did not directly involve human beings, it was submitted and obtained a favorable opinion from the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (CEP-UFRN) under Certificate of Presentation for Ethical Assessment (CAAE): 80007217.0.0000.5537. The results of the sociodemographic characterization of dengue, in the three years analyzed, indicated the age group with the highest frequency was 20-34 years, with 30,8% of the total cases. In relation to sex, the majority was female with 57% of the total. Regarding schooling, the percentage of ignored / white significantly exceeded the total of information filled with 63.1% of the files without information on this variable. The most frequent schooling rate in the period was high school with 5,5% of the cases. Regarding the need for hospitalization, a percentage of only 9,8% was found. However, this data is underestimated, due to the large percentage of ignored/white that corresponds to 48,8% in the period. It should be noted that in 2017 all cases were classified as yes or no in this variable, so there was no ignore/blank, which resulted in 16,8% hospitalizations this year. Regarding the evolution of the cases, 48 dengue-related deaths were reported. Regarding the geographical distribution of cases, the health region with the highest number of cases was Mossoró, with 2.274 confirmed cases, corresponding to 22,7%. Regarding the confirmed cases of chikungunya, the age group with the highest frequency was 20-34 years with 27,5% of the cases. As for sex, the majority were female (62,4%). Regarding schooling, 5,9% of the cases correspond to complete secondary education. Regarding the clinical evolution, there were more deaths due to the disease in 2016, with 48 reports. The geographical distribution pointed to the metropolitan region of Natal with the highest frequency of confirmed cases (35,2%). Relative to zika virus, 254 cases were confirmed. It was observed that all health regions reported a decrease in reported cases of zika in 2017 compared to 2016. Most of the cases corresponded to the female sex (76,6%). The most frequent age group was 20-34 years, with 37,8%. Regarding schooling, the ignored/white number significantly outpaced the total information filled with 56,64%. Finally, it was possible to identify the main health regions that presented the largest number of cases and the epidemiological situation of the concomitance of the three arboviruses in the state of Rio Grande do Norte.