This article presents the evolution and the contribution of the scientific production related to the concept of vulnerability and its potential to help studying transmissible diseases. It presents the concept of vulnerability and the production of knowledge in nursing, developed particularly by the CNPq Research Group Vulnerability, Adherence, and Health Needs. The purpose is to improve the understanding of health issues, based on this concept, and permit the proposition of coping interventions that surpass the individual domain, thus contemplating the organization of health care work and the social determination of the health-disease process.
Vulnerability; Communicable diseases; Public health; Public health nursing