Abstract
Objective
To perform the spatial distribution of Spotted Fever in the Metropolitan Area of Sao Paulo Municipality (MRSP), coverage area of Epidemiological Surveillance Group VII – of Santo Andre (GVE7), to determine clusters of disease incidence, and through QR Code to be able to access data from any smartphone as an aid to the early treatment of new suspected cases.
Introduction
The use of new technologies such as Online Maps and the QR Code facilitates the knowledge dissemination in the health science, aiding in diagnostic elucidation and intelligent decisions making, thus offering an improvement in the quality of care provided to patients. Cases with suspected spotted fever should be approached as potentially serious, which may develop with shock within a few hours and, if not addressed
can progress to death. In the case of spotted fever, early onset determines the cure of these cases.
Methods
The spatial distribution of confirmed Spotted Fever cases was performed in the region of the seven municipalities inserted into GVE7, using the Information System of Notifiable Diseases (SINAN) database and Google Maps online tool, and determining clusters of disease incidence. The QR Code was generated through the QR Code Maker online tool to access map and to verify if the displacement of each new suspect case coincides with the incidence clusters of the disease, and to determine early treatment of these patients.
Results
During the study period, 496 suspected cases of Spotted Fever were reported, of which 64 cases were laboratory test confirmed with a lethality rate of 65%. Most of the probable infection sites are located near the regions close to forest remnants and near the dams. The main concentration of cases is in Recreio da Borda do CampoDistrict in Santo Andre, 27 cases (43% of total). The other priority areas for Spotted Fever occurrence in the MRSP in the period were the districts of Alvarenga, Cooperativa (border of Municipality of Diadema), and Montanhao (in the Municipality of Sao Bernardo do Campo).
Figure 1. QR Code and Google Maps Spotted Fever Incidence Clusters, GVE VII Santo Andre.
Conclusions
In order to validate the use of these technologies as positive, it will be necessary to analyze the closure of the new suspected Spotted Fever cases treated in the region studied. Positive spatial correlation between neighboring areas may result from the disease having an occurrence characteristic in endemic areas and spreading to the nearest areas. We can conclude that the use of new technologies to determine the early onset of treatment for Spotted Fever suspected cases based on the origin of the patients treated in the region of GVE7 can determine the success in the evolution of these cases.
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