[Incorporation of controlling dengue by community health agent]

The purpose of this study was to identify self-perceived differences in the work processes of community health agents (CHA) in two counties of Mato Grosso do Sul, regarding dengue control and Family Health Strategy (FHS) activities. Structured interviews were applied to 57 CHA. The subjects had similar sociodemographic characteristics. Agents in Rio Verde de Mato Grosso county, who performed only FHS tasks, failed to complete essential data of the Form A. In São Gabriel do Oeste county, CHA currently perform tasks pertaining to dengue fever control, previously conducted by Endemic Disease Control Agents (now abolished), while in Rio Verde de Mato Grosso county, dengue control remained assigned to the latter group. In São Gabriel do Oeste county, CHA did not view the double workload of two programs as affecting their professional productivity. The pooling of tasks from the two programs proved to be feasible, with no detrimental effects on performance.