Identification of urban leprosy clusters.

Overpopulation of urban areas results from constant migrations that cause disordered urban growth, constituting clusters defined as sets of people or activities concentrated in relatively small physical spaces that often involve precarious conditions. Aim. Using residential grouping, the aim was to identify possible clusters of individuals in São José do Rio Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil, who have or have had leprosy. Methods. A population-based, descriptive, ecological study using the MapInfo and CrimeStat techniques, geoprocessing, and space-time analysis evaluated the location of 425 people treated for leprosy between 1998 and 2010. Clusters were defined as concentrations of at least 8 people with leprosy; a distance of up to 300 meters between residences was adopted. Additionally, the year of starting treatment and the clinical forms of the disease were analyzed. Results. Ninety-eight (23.1%) of 425 geocoded cases were located within one of ten clusters identified in this study, and 129 cases (30.3%) were in the region of a second-order cluster, an area considered of high risk for the disease. Conclusion. This study identified ten clusters of leprosy cases in the city and identified an area of high risk for the appearance of new cases of the disease.

Identification of urban leprosy clusters

Overpopulation of urban areas results from constant migrations that cause disordered urban growth, constituting clusters defined as sets of people or activities concentrated in relatively small physical spaces that often involve precarious conditions. Aim. Using residential grouping, the aim was to identify possible clusters of individuals in São José do Rio Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil, who have or have had leprosy. METHODS: A population-based, descriptive, ecological study using the MapInfo and CrimeStat techniques, geoprocessing, and space-time analysis evaluated the location of 425 people treated for leprosy between 1998 and 2010. Clusters were defined as concentrations of at least 8 people with leprosy; a distance of up to 300 meters between residences was adopted. Additionally, the year of starting treatment and the clinical forms of the disease were analyzed. RESULTS: Ninety-eight (23.1%) of 425 geocoded cases were located within one of ten clusters identified in this study, and 129 cases (30.3%) were in the region of a second-order cluster, an area considered of high risk for the disease. CONCLUSION: This study identified ten clusters of leprosy cases in the city and identified an area of high risk for the appearance of new cases of the disease.

Geoprocessamento em Saúde Pública: fundamentos e aplicações / Use of geo-processing system in Public Health: principles and applications

Neste trabalho foi averiguado o uso do geoprocessamento como ferramenta para realizar pesquisa e como subsídio para efetuar planejamento de ações em saúde pública. Diversos investigadores têm citado a construção de sistema de vigilância da saúde orientado por um modelo de análise de situações de risco,em substituição ao modelo de risco individual. Esta alternativa, que utiliza o espaço como referência,tem potencialmente mostrado maior poder explicativo por expressar diferentes acessos aos bens e aos serviços de infraestrutura urbana. Com o sistema de geoprocessamento, torna-se possível observar os fatores socioeconômicos, assim como a utilização e as formas de ocupação de áreas. Além disso, podem ser obtidos dados relevantes para efetuar o controle da vigilância em relação à saúde e ao meio ambiente construído e habitado. O uso do geoprocessamento constitui uma importante ferramenta para realizara identificação, a localização e o acompanhamento de populações, principalmente nas periferias dos grandes centros urbanos. Este sistema contribui, ainda, para desenvolver os estudos de transmissão, de disseminação e, ainda, das ações de controle das doenças e dos agravos de saúde de uma determinada área de abrangência.

In the present study is described the importance of the geographic information system (GIS) as a toolfor performing research and as a subsidy for action planning in public health. Many investigators havedescribed the construction of a health surveillance system based on a model to analyze the risk situations,aiming at replacing the individual risk model. This option employs the space as a reference, whichpotentially holds greater explanatory power for expressing different approaches to the profits and servicesfor urban infrastructure. The geo-processing allows to observe the socioeconomic factors, the ways andthe use of occupying the inhabited areas, to acquire relevant data for monitoring the sanitary surveillance,and also built and inhabited environment. The geo-processing works as an important tool for performingthe identification, location and follow-up of populations. Therefore, the geo-processing contributes to thestudy on transmission, distribution and actions directed to the diseases and health problems control in agiven scope area.