Trachoma prevalence among schoolchildren in the municipality of Turmalina, Minas Gerais state

ABSTRACT Trachoma has been mistakenly assumed as having been eradicated, but is on the list of neglected diseases. It is the leading cause of preventable blindness in the world, being found predominantly in developing countries. Several studies have shown that this disease is currently present in all regions of Brazil, which shows that both the government (at the federal, state and municipal levels) and academia must continue to treat trachoma as one of the causes of blindness. In this study, we sought to identify the prevalence of trachoma among schoolchildren aged between seven and 15 years from public schools in the municipality of Turmalina, Minas Gerais state. The survey was conducted in this municipality, located in the Jequitinhonha Valley, a region that contains populations who live in situations of high social vulnerability, and thus display the characteristics that are conducive to the emergence of the disease. The participants were six doctors and 11 nurses working in primary healthcare, trained and standardized to do so. Health professionals examined 635 students aged 7-15 years in the public schools of Turmalina. Students with a clinical diagnosis of trachoma underwent conjunctiva scraping with a swab and the material was sent for laboratory analysis. All school children diagnosed with trachoma were treated at the Unified Health System (SUS). The collected data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software, IBM Inc., USA - SPSS, version 22.0. Among the students, a 4.7% prevalence rate of trachoma was found, predominantly in rural areas.