title: Epidemiological and environmental aspects of visceral leishmaniasis in children under 15 years of age between 2007 and 2012 in the City of Araguaína, State of Tocantins, Brazil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) stands out as a zoonosis observed on four continents and also in urban expansion zones in several regions of Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional epidemiological study of VL cases in children under 15 years of age in the period from 2007 to 2012. Clinical data were gathered from medical reports; meteorological data were obtained at the Meteorological Measurement Department of UFT. Environmental variables were divided into two periods, rainy and dry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study revealed no difference by gender (p=0.67) among the 821 patients. However, the most affected age group was between one and five years of age (58.6%; p<0.01); the highest prevalence of the disease (99.03%; p<0.01) occurred in urban zones; and the most affected ethnic group (85.5%; p<0.01) was mixed race. The highest incidence coefficients in this population occurred in 2007 and 2008 (578.39/100,000 inhabitants; 18.5/100,000 inhabitants, respectively), whereas the highest lethality coefficients occurred in 2008 and 2011 (0.85/100 deaths). There was no significant correlation between average rainfall and the number of VL cases. The correlation between temperature and number of VL cases was negative (r = -0.4039; p<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In Araguaína, visceral leishmaniasis in children under 15 years is an urban-based endemic disease distributed across all districts of the city wherein temperature as an environmental factor, a higher prevalence in mixed race children between one and five years of age, and a high incidence coefficient all strongly contribute to child mortality.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas, Econômicas e da Saúde de Araguaína, Instituto Tocantinense Presidente Antônio Carlos, Araguaína, TO.
authors.forename: Iara Brito Bucar
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina, Instituto Federal de Educação Ciências e Tecnologia do Tocantins, Araguaína, TO.
authors.forename: Hebert Lima
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Batista
authors.affiliation: Departamento de farmácia, Universidade Federal do Tocantins, Gurupi, TO, Brazil.
authors.forename: Joênes Mucci
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Peluzio
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação Stricto Sensu em Ciências Ambientais e Saúde, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brazil.
authors.forename: Irmtraut Araci Hoffmann
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Pfrimer
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação Stricto Sensu em Ciências Ambientais e Saúde, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brazil.
authors.forename: Flávia Melo
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação Stricto Sensu em Ciências Ambientais e Saúde, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Rodrigues do
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Carmo Filho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male