Análise do cenário epidemiológico da malária no município de Melgaço-PA a partir da aplicação do geoprocessamento

In recent years, geotechnologies have become important tools for analyzing the epidemiological distribution of events. Thus, based on the use of geoprocessing, this study aims to promote a spatiotemporal analysis of malaria in Melgaço-PA between 2009 and 2013. First, the epidemiological summary was debugged by the probable location of the infection of malaria cases in the System Epidemiological Surveillance of Malaria (Malaria-Sivep). Following was held georeferencing of 23 localities, where 1,129 cases occurred, using a Global Positioning Receiver (GPS). Thereafter, the data were aggregated to the IBGE cartographic databases and the Landsat-TM images. Finally, visual expressions were created by applying the kernel density estimator for each year of the period studied. The most affected regions were the municipal seat and rural localities of the municipality, Ilha do Laguna and Cidade. It was not observed the existence of a definite pattern of distribution, because despite the existence of clusters, the cases were found in several areas of the county. However, most of the geo-referenced probable infection points were distributed at the margins of flooded areas, with steady water, which is favorable to the dissemination of anopheles vectors. This flooded area is habited by a low income population, predominantly living in wood dwellings, facilitating the entrance of mosquitos and therefore allowing the vector-man contact. This study allowed the dimensioning of the epidemiological scenario of this disease, indicating the location of housing, low conditions of living , and housing as main variables responsible for the risk of acquiring the disease.