Célia Landmann Szwarcwald, Maria de Fátima Costa Lopes, Paulo Roberto Borges de Souza Junior, Daniela Vaz Ferreira Gómez, Expedito José de Albuquerque Luna, Wanessa da Silva de Almeida, Giseli Nogueira Damacena, Joana da Felicidade Ribeiro Favacho, Norma Helen Medina, Luciano Chaves Franco Filho, Aiara Cogo, Sarah Boyd, Ana Bakhtiari, Cristina Jimenez, Sandra L Talero, Martha Idalí Saboyá-Díaz, Anthony W Solomon, Emma Harding-Esch
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: To provide the groundwork for a future declaration of elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in Brazil, we conducted house-to-house surveys following WHO methodological guidance.
Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted in 10 non-indigenous and five indigenous evaluation units (EUs) from 2018 to 2023; data on six EUs are reported here for the first time. Two-stage cluster sampling was used: 30 clusters per EU, and 30 households per cluster. We estimated the prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) in 1-9-y-olds and trachomatous trichiasis (TT) unknown to the health system in those aged ≥15 y. Data on sanitary conditions were collected in household interviews.
Results: In all EUs, TF prevalence was below the elimination threshold (5%). TT prevalence was lower than the 0.2% threshold in 14 EUs. In 'Noroeste Cearense' mesoregion, TT prevalence was 0.22% (95% CI 0.06 to 0.44%), but statistical analysis showed a 58% likelihood of TT elimination in this EU. In three indigenous EUs, >10% of households had no sanitary facilities and high percentages of open defecation.
Conclusions: It is highly likely that trachoma has been eliminated as a public health problem in all the EUs surveyed. The findings on sanitary conditions mandate public policies to overcome socioenvironmental inequalities.
期刊介绍:
International Health is an official journal of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. It publishes original, peer-reviewed articles and reviews on all aspects of global health including the social and economic aspects of communicable and non-communicable diseases, health systems research, policy and implementation, and the evaluation of disease control programmes and healthcare delivery solutions.
It aims to stimulate scientific and policy debate and provide a forum for analysis and opinion sharing for individuals and organisations engaged in all areas of global health.