da Silva Rubens Antonio, de Carvalho Maria Esther, Zacharias Fabiana, de Lima Valquíria R, Teles Horacio M S
Laboratório de Soroepidemiologia, Coordenação dos Laboratórios de Referência e Desenvolvimento Científico, Superintendência de Controle de Endemias, São Paulo, SP, 01027-000, Brasil.
Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2002;97 Suppl 1:15-8. doi: 10.1590/s0074-02762002000900004.
A rather high prevalence of mansoni schistosomiasis has been observed in some localities of Bananal, State of São Paulo, during the past decade. The highest prevalence of schistosomiasis was found in the Palha District; it was thus considered adequate for an evaluation of public awareness of the risks involved in acquiring schistosomiasis, a likely outcome of certain behavior patterns. We interviewed 542 district-dwellers. The 5-to-39 age-group constituted 65.5% of the whole sample. Concerning the infection, 69.2% had hearsay information; 46.1% know the infection; 69.6% know how it is acquired; 31.5% know about the symptoms and 57.1% know what can be done to avoid infection; 17.7% declared to have acquired the infection at least once in their lifetime; 62.3% reported total or partial immersion in collections of water of Bananal, once or twice a week, 53.9% of these for bathing or fishing. Although most (91.7%) households have treated running water, are connected to the sewage network or have septic tanks, 9% of the people interviewed use to defecate on the field. It became clear that the educational messages aimed at this population had not been adequate, having failed to fulfil any expectations. The local people received only piecemeal and subjective information about their problem. The control of schistosomiasis requires an integrated practice, which includes the analysis of macro-determinant factors, such as basic sanitation, habitation, education and health care. In short, we require a multidisciplinary vision of the mechanisms of transmission of the infection, which depends upon adequate planning and well trained personnel, intent on their educational work, to attain satisfactory results.
在过去十年中，圣保罗州巴纳纳尔岛的一些地区观察到曼氏血吸虫病的患病率相当高。血吸虫病患病率最高的是帕尔哈区；因此，该地区被认为适合评估公众对感染血吸虫病风险的认识，而这种感染可能是某些行为模式导致的结果。我们采访了542名该地区居民。5至39岁年龄组占整个样本的65.5%。关于感染情况，69.2%的人有听说过相关信息；46.1%的人了解这种感染；69.6%的人知道感染途径；31.5%的人了解症状，57.1%的人知道如何预防感染；17.7%的人宣称一生中至少感染过一次；62.3%的人报告每周有一到两次全身或部分身体浸泡在巴纳纳尔岛的水域中，其中53.9%的人是为了洗澡或捕鱼。尽管大多数（91.7%）家庭有自来水、接入了污水管网或有化粪池，但9%的受访者仍习惯在野外排便。很明显，针对这一人群的教育信息并不充分，未能达到任何预期效果。当地人只得到了关于他们问题的零碎且主观的信息。血吸虫病的控制需要综合措施，包括分析宏观决定因素，如基本卫生设施、居住环境、教育和医疗保健。简而言之，我们需要对感染传播机制有一个多学科的认识，这依赖于充分的规划和训练有素的人员，他们致力于教育工作，以取得令人满意的结果。
