Evaluación de la percepción sobre leishmaniasis visceral humana y canina en áreas con diferentes prevalencias

Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a zoonosis, which if not treated properly and timely results in high lethality. It affects mostly minors and people with reduced immunity, human populations existing under precarious living conditions and with limited schooling also being particularly affected. VL also impacts upon humans in terms of how they relateto domestic and companion animals. The objective of this study, was to evaluate if there was a difference in perception regarding VL in neighborhoodswhich presented different prevalences among humans and dogs in the municipality of Lavras / MG and included areas where health education had or had not been carried out. A total of 225 interviews were applied with semi-structured questions presented to the adult population in nine neighborhoods of the municipalitydistributed as follows: Group 1. Neighborhoods where health education had been carried out a.Two neighborhoods where there was an elevated prevalence in dogs; b. Two neighborhoods where there was a lower prevalence in canines; c. Two neighborhoods where human cases were reported and Group 2, comprising three neighborhoods where health education had not been provided and the prevalence in humans and dogs was not known. The knowledge of several aspects of the disease was examined including generalities, transmission, vector, treatment and preventive measures. A total of 25 interviews were applied in each neighborhood. Canine research for diagnosis and health education actions were carried out by the public health services of the municipality in conjunction with the Federal University of Lavras(UFLA). A descriptive analysis was made of all the questions asked and the association with neighborhood was tested by means of the chi-square test (p <0.05). It was concluded that knowledge regarding VL was better in neighborhoods with records of confirmed human and canine cases and where prevention and control measures had already been established, when compared to neighborhoods where cases had not been reported and educational actions had not been conducted. The findings of this study showed that prevention and control campaigns of the kind provided by public health, municipal and university services are strictly necessary and should be expanded to include other neighborhoods in order to reduce the impact of the disease. This is important, because the provision of knowledge concerning the different aspects of the diseaseserves to prepare and empower the population to adopt preventative measures and attitudes that will serve to reduce the impact of this important zoonosis.