[Leishmaniasis in the Porto Ferreira district]

Since 1981, the incidence of leishmaniasis is increasing in the district of Porto Ferreira, due to favorable environmental conditions for phlebotomini breeding. The data were collected from the Epidemiological Investigation Card and also through interviews with local inhabitants cases. Until the first semester of 1993, forty cases had been recorded and they basically occurred in an area we called critical. The epidemiological features of the disease in the country are different from those listed in literature by the observation that women working at home were more affected, which characterizes an autoctone, domiciliar and urban transmission. The sequence of assistance of patients has also been evaluated, identifying some questions concerning the time elapsed from the first symptoms to the specific treatment. Actions of epidemic-sanitary control were proposed in order to conter the incidence the disease in the district.