Malaria and environmental, socioeconomics and public health conditions in the municipality of São Félix do Xingu, Pará, Eastern Amazon, Brazil: An ecological and cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Malaria is a parasitosis conditioned by several factors. This study sought to analyze the spatial distribution of malaria considering environmental, socioeconomic, and political variables in São Félix do Xingu, Pará, Brazil, from 2014 to 2020.

Methods: Epidemiological, cartographic, and environmental data were obtained from the Ministry of Health, Brazilian Geographical and Statistical Institute, and National Space Research Institute. Statistical and spatial distribution analyses were performed using chi-squared tests of expected equal proportions and the kernel and bivariate global Moran's techniques with Bioestat 5.0 and ArcGIS 10.5.1.

Results: The highest percentage of cases occurred in adult males with brown skin color, mainly placer miners, with a primary education level, living in rural areas, who were infected with Plasmodium vivax and with parasitemia of two or three crosses as diagnosed by the thick drop/smear test. The disease had a non-homogeneous distribution, with distinct annual parasite indices associated with administrative districts and clusters of cases in locations with deforestation, mining, and pastures close to Conservation Units and Indigenous Lands. Thus, a direct relationship between areas with cases and environmental degradation associated with land use was demonstrated, along with the precarious availability of health services. Pressure on protected areas and epidemiological silence in Indigenous Lands were also noted.

Conclusions: Environmental and socioeconomic circuits were identified for development of diseases associated with precarious health services in the municipality. These findings highlight the need to intensify malaria surveillance and contribute to the systematic knowledge of malaria's epidemiology by considering the complexity of its conditioning factors.

FIGURE 1:. Annual Parasite Index of Malaria in São Félix do Xingu, Pará, Brazil, from 2014 to 2020. Source: Research Protocol, 2022.

FIGURE 2:. Spatial distribution of malaria and coverage by health establishments in the municipality of São Félix do Xingu, Pará, Brazil, from 2014 to 2020. Source: Research Protocol, 2022.

FIGURE 3:. Malaria distribution and land use and cover in the municipality of São Félix do Xingu, Pará, Brazil, from 2014 to 2020. Source: Research Protocol, 2022.