[Progression of dengue virus circulation in the State of Bahia, Brazil, 1994-2000]

The strength of the re-emergence of dengue virus and the severity of these infections put this disease in the priority agenda of the institutions responsible for protecting the health of populations. Important for understanding the epidemiology of dengue nowadays refers to the knowledge of the patterns of spatial-temporal diffusion, though there is few research addressing this issue. This study describes the process of dissemination of dengue in the state of Bahia, from 1994 to 2000.

This ecological study space-time, with the units of analysis, county, epidemiological week, month, trimester and year. There has been construction of the trend line and has been mapping the sequential occurrence of dengue in the municipality for the period.

There were 164,050 reported cases of dengue and the introduction of this virus in Bahia, unlike other states, occurred on a small city, though there is intermittency in spatial and temporal records of cases at the beginning of this epidemic. The virus circulated in all climatic zones fact what highlight its high transmission power. The highest intensity of detection of cases and territorial expansion was in the littoral (zone humid and half-humid) ideal area for the survive of the vector.

Hypothetically, the intermittent space-time pattern initially observed, could have allowed the control of the progression of the epidemic, if structured action to vectorial combat was carried out.