The epidemiological profile of malaria in a municipality in the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

Malaria is a tropical disease caused by protozoa of the genus Plasmodium (Aconoidasida: Haemosporida: Plasmodiidae). The Brazilian Amazon is the area with the highest risk of malaria transmission in the country. The aim of this study was to trace the epidemiological profile of malaria patients between 2010 and 2015, in the Municipality of Marabá, State of Pará, North Brazil. Secondary data were used, of Sivepmalaria of the Municipal Health Department of the municipality. The variables analyzed were the incidence autochthonous or imported cases, genus, species of the causative parasite infection during pregnancy and parasitic annual index. Data analysis used the Chi-Square Test, in the Biostat 5.0. The annual parasitic index (IPA) of malaria cases in Marabá in 2010 was 3.7, followed by the year of 2011 with 2.7, from the year 2012 the IPA drops sharply to 0.68, followed by the years 2013 , 2014 and 2015, which presented an IPA of 0.1, 0.07 and 0.01 respectively. Data on the contamination site revealed that 51% of the cases in the period studied were of imported origin and 49% were autochthonous, and there was no significant statistical difference between the years. Males were the most affected by the disease (67%). The most common parasitic species was Plasmodium vivax. Malaria cases have been reduced over the years, and this is due to several factors, such as better access to the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, to the control of the vectors, and to the constant work of epidemiological surveillance, although underreporting is still a great problem in the measurement of the actual numbers of cases.