Pyriproxyfen and the microcephaly epidemic in Brazil - an ecological approach to explore the hypothesis of their association.
The microcephaly epidemic in Brazil generated intense debate regarding its causality, and one hypothesised cause of this epidemic, now recognised as congenital Zika virus syndrome, was the treatment of drinking water tanks with pyriproxyfen to control Aedes aegypti larvae. We present the results of a geographical analysis of the association between the prevalence of microcephaly confirmed by Fenton growth charts and the type of larvicide used in the municipalities that were home to the mothers of the affected newborns in the metropolitan region of Recife in Pernambuco, the state in Brazil where the epidemic was first detected. The overall prevalence of microcephaly was 82 per 10,000 live births in the three municipalities that used the larvicide Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) instead of pyriproxyfen, and 69 per 10,000 live births in the eleven municipalities that used pyriproxyfen. The difference was not statistically significant. Our results show that the prevalence of microcephaly was not higher in the areas in which pyriproxyfen was used. In this ecological approach, there was no evidence of a correlation between the use of pyriproxyfen in the municipalities and the microcephaly epidemic.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Departamento de Saúde Coletiva, Recife, PE, Brasil.
Maria de Fatima P Militão de
MF
Albuquerque
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Departamento de Saúde Coletiva, Recife, PE, Brasil.
Wayner V de
WV
Souza
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Departamento de Saúde Coletiva, Recife, PE, Brasil.
Antônio da Cruz G
AD
Mendes
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Departamento de Saúde Coletiva, Recife, PE, Brasil.
Tereza M
TM
Lyra
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brasil.|Universidade de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brasil.
Ricardo Aa
RA
Ximenes
Universidade de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brasil.
Thália Vb
TV
Araújo
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Departamento de Saúde Coletiva, Recife, PE, Brasil.
Cynthia
C
Braga
Universidade de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brasil.
Demócrito B
DB
Miranda-Filho
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Departamento de Saúde Coletiva, Recife, PE, Brasil.
Celina Mt
CM
Martelli
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Laura C
LC
Rodrigues
D000330:Aedes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000821:virology; D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D058872:Epidemics; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007306:Insecticides / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008831:Microcephaly / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D009032:Mosquito Control; D015995:Prevalence; D011725:Pyridines / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000071243:Zika Virus Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*
D007306:Insecticides; D011725:Pyridines; C055613:pyriproxyfen