Relationship between rainfall and temperature: observations on the cases of visceral leishmaniasis in São Luis Island, State of Maranhão, Brazil

INTRODUCTION: Visceral leishmaniasis is a serious public health problem that requires global control strategies, especially with respect to factors that may intervene in reducing the incidence of endemicity. In this work, rainfall density and temperature were correlated with the incidence of human cases in an area endemic for leishmaniasis in São Luis do Maranhão, Northeastern Brazil. METHODS: Notification of human cases by the National Health Foundation/Regional Coordination of Maranhão (FUNASA/COREMA) from 2002 to 2010 was used. Ecological data (mean temperature and rainfall density) were provided by the Meteorological Office of State. RESULTS: A significant association was verified between the number of VL cases and rainfall rate but not in the analysis concerning mean temperatures. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the control actions in visceral leishmaniasis should be performed during rainy season in the State of Maranhão, which is in the first half of the year.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Viana,Graça Maria de Castro, Nascimento,Maria do Desterro Soares Brandão, Rabelo,Érica Milena Fernandes, Diniz Neto,João Arnaud, Binda Júnior,José Roberto, Galvão,Carolina de Souza, Santos,Alessandro Carvalho dos, Santos Júnior,Onildo Martins, Oliveira,Rodrigo Artur Souza de, Guimarães,Rafael Silva
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical - SBMT 2011
Online Access:	http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-86822011000600013
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