A CARGA DE DOENÇA POR SÍNDROME CONGÊNITA ASSOCIADA À INFECÇÃO PELO VÍRUS ZIKA (SCZ) NO BRASIL: USO DO INDICADOR ANOS DE VIDA AJUSTADOS PARA INCAPACIDADE (DISABILITY ADJUSTED LIFE YEARS – DALYS)

Abstract

The Zika virus (ZIKV) acquired importance in public health in Brazil in the years 2015-2016, when it caused an epidemic in Latin America. During the period of the epidemic, there was an increase in cases of microcephaly in newborns of mothers infected with ZIKV during pregnancy. Based on the increase in these cases and the strong suggestion of an association with intrauterine infection by ZIKV, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) defined congenital Zika-associated syndrome (CZS) as a set of congenital anomalies observed in children born to mothers with a history of gestational Zika fever, which has microcephaly as the most prevalent clinical sign. To describe the impact of SCZ in Brazil, the present study aimed to estimate the burden of disease due to congenital syndrome associated with ZIKV in Brazil using the DALY (disability-adjusted life years) indicator and other frequency measures, such as incidence, prevalence, and mortality during the years 2015 – 2020. The association of these indicators with socioeconomic variables was also evaluated using Spearman's correlation coefficient. Secondary data extracted from DATASUS and provided by the Data Governance Nucleus of the Ministry of Health were used in the study. Disease burden was expressed as DALY. From 2015 to 2020, 3,591 cases of SCZ were confirmed in Brazil, with an incidence of 44.03 cases per 1,000 live births and a prevalence of 82.14 cases per 1,000 live births. During the study period, SCZ-specific mortality was 12.35 deaths per 1,000 live births. A loss of 30,027.44 DALYs were estimated in the period from 2015 to 2020. The Northeast region presented the highest values for all indicators. The correlation between health indicators and socioeconomic indicators suggested that there is a significant correlation between per capita income, Gini coefficient, illiteracy rate, and sanitary installation by septic tank. The study allowed us to have access to all cases of SCZ already reported, showing us the possible situation of the disease in Brazil and we believe that our results can help in the understanding of future studies.

Keywords: Congenital Zika virus Syndrome. Zika virus. Epidemiology. Health indicators.