EVALUATION OF LAND USE IN RIO GRANDE DO SUL IN CITIES WITH A HIGH PREVALENCE OF DENGUE CASES

Resumo

INTRODUCTION: Anthropogenic activities have significantly altered the natural environment, impacting the distribution of disease-transmitting species and consequently increasing the incidence of infectious diseases such as dengue. Dengue is a viral infectious disease prevalent in tropical climates, especially in urban and semi-urban areas. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess land use in cities within the state of Rio Grande do Sul that reported a high prevalence of dengue cases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data on dengue cases reported between 2014 and 2022 were collected from the Unified Health System database (DATASUS). The analysis involved compiling the annual numbers of reported cases and identifying temporal and spatial patterns in disease distribution. Land use and land cover mapping for 2022 was obtained from the MapBiomas Project. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The state of Rio Grande do Sul covers an area of 281,707.151 km² and has a population of 10,882,965 inhabitants, distributed across 497 municipalities. The micro-regions with the highest numbers of dengue notifications were Porto Alegre (27,634), Gramado-Canela (12,571), Santa Cruz do Sul (7,681), and Lajeado-Estrela (6,940). However, the confirmed cases were: Porto Alegre (n=6,185), Gramado-Canela (n=4,442), Santa Cruz do Sul (n=3,345), and Lajeado-Estrela (n=2,239). Porto Alegre, the state capital, is characterized by high population density and significant human mobility across the metropolitan area. Approximately 37.83% of the city’s territory is classified as non-vegetated (18,740 ha), with 97.14% of this area corresponding to urban spaces. In contrast, Gramado and Canela exhibit high levels of vegetation cover, with 75.73% and 65.61% forest cover, respectively. Nevertheless, both cities are important tourist destinations located at high altitudes (~830 meters), a condition that favors the presence of Aedes aegypti, the primary vector of the dengue virus.