[Epidemiology, values, and the meaning of paradigm]

Use of the term paradigm has recently reached the epidemiological milieu. This article provides a critical analysis of a classification of "epidemiological paradigms" as proposed by Almeida-Filho. It was initially ascertained that values were not considered fundamental elements for the construction of paradigms, and that they therefore distanced themselves from the Kuhnian matrix. Systematization sought to unite antithetical tendencies and thus seemed closer to the Foucaltian epistéme. Finally, hegemony was considered a more appropriate term than paradigm for systematizing epidemiological periods, since the values of the different watersheds are committed to particularity (principally social class).