Análise de agrupamentos das taxas de incidência de dengue nos estados brasileiros

Abstract

Dengue is considered a serious public health problem in Brazil, which accounts for almost 70% of notifications of the disease in the Americas since 2000 and where about 4 million cases were recorded between 2000 and 2009. Thus, this study aims to analyze the dengue incidence rates in 27 states, from 2000 to 2014, through cluster analysis, for the purpose of to identify and describe the profile of states with similar behaviors in order to contribute to redirect the strategies of control programs of this endemic disease and encourage preventive measures. For this, the Standardized Euclidean distance for obtaining the distance matrix was used, and the unweighted pairgroup method using the average approach (UPGMA) for the formation of clusters. Four methods were used to determine the optimal number of groups in the dendrogram, being they Tocher Optimization Method original and amended, and the criteria Pseudo F and Pseudo T², which resulted in the choice of two groups, where there was the discrimination of the state of Acre on a single group because of the high incidence reported of the disease. The introduction and recirculation of serotypes of the disease and the inadequate treatment of vector breeding sites are among the possible reasons that caused the epidemics of dengue recorded in the state during this period.