Visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil: where are we going?
26 jun 2020
Doctor Guilherme Werneck, in a paper, alerts to the fact that recent news of autochthonous human cases are “the tip of the iceberg” in the disease’s dissemination process to the entire country seems inexorable
In Brazil, the leading thought is that transmission is essentially zoonotic, the domestic dog is the main urban reservoir and the Lutzomyia longipalpis sand fly is the vector with greater epidemiological importance. Based on these assumptions, the VL control program was established by the Presidential Decree 51.838 from March 3, 1963, emphasizing the early diagnosis and treatment of human cases, the reduction of sand fly population and elimination of infected reservoirs. Still today, these are the pillars that drive the Visceral Leishmaniasis Control Program (VLCP) from the Health Ministry.
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