Identificação de casos de miíases em pacientes de unidades de saúde de Natal/RN

Abstract

Myiasis is a parasitic disease characterized by infestation of diptera larvae in vertebrate hosts. It may occur from the deposition of eggs or fly larvae in natural cavities or openings in the skin, from scratches, burns to necrotic lesions. The lack of knowledge on the part of patients and health professionals makes it difficult to map the main species of flies that cause the disease. Despite the scarcity of records, health professionals often report patients harboring fly larvae in the body. Therefore, this work aimed to know the number of cases and the most frequent species of flies that cause myiasis in patients attended at health units in Natal. A retrospective study of myiasis cases occurred between the years of 2010 and 2017 was carried out in six health centers in the districts of Igapó, Nazaré, Alecrim, Nova Descoberta, Pirangi and Cidade Satélite. At the same time, larvae were collected from cases from August 2017 to March 2018 to identify the species of flies. In addition to these collections, awareness-raising lectures were given to health professionals, providing an informative booklet on myiasis, with the aim of demystifying erroneous concepts about the disease. Six cases of myiasis were registered between 2010 and 2017 in the health units visited. During the visit period, larvae were collected from two cases that occurred in 2017 at the Igapó and Cidade Satelite units. The larvae were identified as belonging to the family Sarcophagidae and the family Calliphoridae (Cochliomyia hominivorax ) in the two units, respectively. This was the first record of the Cochliomyia hominivorax causing myiasis in humans in the state of the RN. The sensitization lectures were carried out at the end of the visits, along with the availability of the printed booklet. The results of this work suggest that the parasitosis is underreported, rendering the data regarding the disease insufficient, making it impossible to delineate the true myiasis in the city of Natal.