[Classification by occupation of AIDS cases in Brazil - 1995]

Based on occupational classification of AIDS cases reported in Brazil in 1995 and recorded in the Data Base for Reported Diseases (SINAN), AIDS incidence rates were estimated per 100 thousand inhabitants by occupation, according to the 1991 National Census. Nationwide rates for employed males and females were 25.0 and 9.1, respectively. Among males, and within the major occupational groups, the following sub-groups had the highest rates: personal hygiene services (268.1), social scientists (176.1), writers and journalists (114.3), medical and dental assistants (113.4), chemists, pharmacists, and physicists (111.9), teachers (87.3), artists (74.7), port services (65.6), maritime and fluvial transportation (57.5), and sales personnel (55.4). The results indicated the disease's magnitude in different occupational categories and highlighted certain occupations in which special preventive measures are justified, along with more in-depth studies focusing on other socioeconomic variables and the sociocultural behavior of their members.