Spatial analysis of integrated health and environmental indicators for morbidity and mortality due to infant diarrhea in Brazil, 2010

The objective of this study was to construct integrated health and environmental indicators for diarrhea in infants (< 1 year of age) in Brazil. The authors used an ecological design, applying the Geo Health model, including the following dimensions: driving force, pressure, state of the environment, and exposure to human health effects. The likelihood of infant hospitalization or death from acute diarrheal disease is highest in the North and Northeast regions of Brazil. In the North, hospitalizations and deaths are five times more common than in the Southeast and South. The hospitalization rate for infant diarrhea was associated with the percentage of the population without garbage collection and the mortality rate with the dependency ratio and percentage of residents without garbage collection. The article concludes that sanitation is a persistent environmental problem in North and Northeast Brazil and that a reduction in infant diarrhea requires effective public policies in this area.

Basic Sanitation; Infantile Diarrhea; Child Health