Análise espacial dos casos e óbitos por COVID-19 em Eunápolis – BA (2020-2021)

Abstract

Introduction: Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a disease with high transmission potential, caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a virus that belongs to the BetaCovs genus, of the Coronaviridae family, and is considered a major threat to global public health. Objective: To analyze the spatial distribution of COVID-19 incidence and mortality in the municipality of Eunápolis/BA from 2020 to 2021. Methodology: Descriptive ecological study, based on secondary data from the e-SUS Notifica Information System. The study scenario was the municipality of Eunápolis, which is located in the extreme south of Bahia, 651 kilometers from the capital, Salvador, with a population of 113,709 inhabitants according to the IBGE 2022 census count. This study included all confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 reported on e-SUS notifica, excluding duplicates and fields that had not been filled in. The variables gender, age group, race/color, signs and symptoms, risk factors/comorbidities, final case classification and case evolution were used in the fields contained in the notification/investigation form. Maps were built using COVID-19 records based on addresses from the IBGE's National Registry of Addresses for Statistical Purposes (CNEFE), making it possible to locate cases according to census tracts, and the maps were made using the QGIS program, version 2.18.20. The Ethics Committee of the University of Rio de Janeiro, under opinion no. 5.341.386, approved the research. Results: Confirmed COVID-19 cases affected more the female population, brown race/color, with an age range of 30 to 49 years, it was observed that fever, cough and sore throat were the most prevalent signs and symptoms in the years in question and that chronic heart disease, diabetes, followed by immunosuppression were the most prominent comorbidities. Analysis of the maps showed a concentration of rates (incidence of cases and deaths) in urban census sectors, with case incidence rates showing a concentration of disease transmission in the central part of the municipality in both years. With regard to deaths, there was a higher prevalence among males, individuals > 60 years of age, brown race/color, with heart disease, diabetes, decompensated chronic respiratory disease and individuals with no record of comorbidities with greater emphasis on risk factors. It was noted that in relation to the death rate, the spatial pattern was similar to the distribution of case incidence rates (in both time and space), with a progressive increase in death rates until the first half of 2021. Conclusion: This study can contribute to the municipality's health surveillance to better plan and adopt specific measures focused on each location, through its characteristics and territorial dynamics, in addition to describing the pattern of the disease and its clinical and epidemiological characteristics, it reinforces that surveillance can go beyond data collection and can foster decision-making based on adequate planning and execution of actions in the territory taking into account the dynamics between the variables most affected by COVID-19.