Educação continuada em saúde: ações de prevenção, promoção e controle das doenças infecto-parasitárias em escolares residentes em um distrito rural endêmico

Abstract

Problems related to hygiene mostly affect school-age children. Individual and collective hygiene habits directly interfere with diseases such as intestinal parasites, arboviruses and accidents involving venomous animals. Prevention is a common pillar for reducing the aforementioned health problems. This project’s beneficiaries are 125 children (4-10 years; median = 7), who attend two public schools in Xonin de Cima, a Governador Valadares’ rural district (Minas Gerais). Questionnaires were applied and, based on the information obtained, 4 health education actions were organized, whose themes were: hygiene, arboviral diseases, intestinal parasites (IP) and Accidents with poisonous animals (APA). Games, dynamics, theater, music, cinema, lectures and exhibition of species in formaldehyde were used as pedagogical resources. In addition, a multidisciplinary fair about health, education and citizenship were organized. Vulnerabilities were identified, such as: only 44.8% of the participants know the concept of hygiene. 74.4% have never heard of infectious diseases. 26.4% do not wash their hands at all required times. 0,8% do not brush their teeth after meals or before bedtime. 10.4% do not wash food before eating it. 14.4% report bathing in a river or lake; while 117 (93.0%) use the local stream, probably a focus of schistosomiasis, for leisure. 22.4% reported previous arboviral diseases; 64.8% say they have seen standing water and 76.0% report a large number of mosquitoes at home. 40.8% reported previous IP. 13.6% suffered APA, mainly scorpionism (52.9%) and ophidism (17.6%). 95.2% have seen a venomous animal at home. Regarding the actions, the methods used approximate the information to the age and cultural context of the public served, generating greater effectiveness.