Estratégias para educação e acompanhamento do tratamento gratuito dos gatos domésticos como medida de combate à esporotricose zoonótica | Strategies for education and follow-up of free treatment of domestic cats as a measure to combat zoonotic sporotrichosis

Sporotrichosis is a disease caused by a fungus of the genus Sporothrix spp., in which the zoonotic form is transmitted mainly by cats. Brazil is the country with the highest number of reports of zoonotic sporotrichosis. In the state of Minas Gerais, previous studies have described an epidemic since 2016, with indicators related to the disease such as prevalence, lethality, mortality and the radius of surveillance. The species responsible for human, feline and canine cases in the municipality of Belo Horizonte is S. brasiliensis. Treatment of sporotrichosis in cats is not provided by the Public Health System, making this possibility unfeasible for low-income guardians and animals without a guardian. Based on this scenario, the present study aimed to create models of strategies for free feline treatment as part of public policies to tackle zoonotic sporotrichosis. In the first stage of the study, with only the availability of the drug for treatment (itraconazol), the study team noticed greater adherence of cats from Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), because since the arrival of sporotrichosis in the municipality, there are many animals with sporotrichosis without resources for treatment. Considering the characteristics of the sample, chapter 1 will address the challenges beyond the drug in the shelters of CSOs, and further compare the results obtained with the results of individual caregivers. Similar cure and death rates were found between cats from CSOs and cats from individual guardians, and great challenges related to the total lack of resources in the CSOs addressed. Over time, sporotrichosis reached the cats of guardians with better levels of responsible guardianship, and these guardians came to the research team seeking free treatment. Thus emerged Chapter 2, which included these guardians in different treatment follow-up regimens with different health education strategies and different intervals between visits. There was a good cure rate among the animals, and a reduction in treatment length when the guardians had access to informative videos and more information about the disease. There was no difference between biweekly and monthly follow-up. At the same time, it was necessary to train and enable the public service so that the strategies to fight sporotrichosis were really consolidated into the service, and thus chapter 3 emerged, which approaches the training of for the interested municipalities where the disease is widespread.

CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior