title: A rural community in a Brazilian Western Amazonian Region: some demographic and epidemiological patterns.
abstract: Some demographic and epidemiological patterns of the rural population of Monte Negro, locality situated in the State of Rondônia (Brazil), Western Amazonia, are described based on a sample of 924 randomly selected individuals, approximately 10% of the whole population. The main features of this sample are (1) the illiteracy rates in the parental generation were 23% for fathers and 20% for mothers. Among children, this figure dropped to 6%; (2) housing in Monte Negro is characterized by being constructed with wood (92%), and also a floor (75%). Nevertheless, only 32% of these houses had electric energy; (3) the mean ages for the parental generation were 41.9 for males and 36.3 for females. These values for the offspring generation were 12.2 and 10.5, respectively; (4) the sex-ratio of the offspring generation was 1.32;(5) the bioassay of kinship was estimated as.033 for this long range migrant population; (6) the prevalence of some macrophage dependent infectious disease was conspicuously high; (7) the reported number of malarial episodes among males and females was statistically different, suggesting that malaria may be, in part, a "professional" disease; (8) the prevalence of serum-positive reactions against B-hepatitis is distressing. It has a strong age dependence and reaches 74% among adult males. Conversely, signs of active infection (AgHbs) rises to 16% among children.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, 05508-900, Brasil.
authors.forename: L M A
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Camargo
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Moura
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Engracia
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Pagotto
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Basano
authors.forename: L H Pereira
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: E P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Camargo
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Beiguelman
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Krieger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009017:Morbidity; D012424:Rural Population; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors