The Urban Gradient in Malaria-Endemic Municipalities in Acre: Revisiting the Role of Locality.
Ana Paula Dal'Asta, Raquel Martins Lana, Silvana Amaral, Cláudia Torres Codeço, Antônio Miguel Vieira Monteiro
Author Information
Ana Paula Dal'Asta: Divisão de Processamento de Imagens (DPI), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Av. dos Astronautas 1758, São José dos Campos 12227-010, Brazil. anapdalasta@dpi.inpe.br. ORCID
Raquel Martins Lana: Programa de Computação Científica (PROCC), Fiocruz-RJ, Av. Brasil 4365 Residência Oficial, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21041-222, Brazil. raquelmlana@gmail.com. ORCID
Silvana Amaral: Divisão de Processamento de Imagens (DPI), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Av. dos Astronautas 1758, São José dos Campos 12227-010, Brazil. silvana@dpi.inpe.br.
Cláudia Torres Codeço: Programa de Computação Científica (PROCC), Fiocruz-RJ, Av. Brasil 4365 Residência Oficial, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21041-222, Brazil. claudia.codeco@fiocruz.br.
Antônio Miguel Vieira Monteiro: Divisão de Processamento de Imagens (DPI), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Av. dos Astronautas 1758, São José dos Campos 12227-010, Brazil. miguel@dpi.inpe.br.
Urbanization has altered the distribution of diseases of public health importance along gradients of human occupation. Adopting dichotomous urban/rural categories to explain differences in the risk of exposure, as well as the prevention of diseases is insufficient. In this paper, we present the potential of representations based on the gradient perspective to characterize the living spaces of municipalities where malaria is endemic in northwest Acre. Inventoried data in 40 localities in the Mâncio Lima and Rodrigues Alves municipalities and information on land use and land cover obtained from the TerraClass Database were used to characterize the urban spatial forms and their social content. Results showed a gradient of intensities: from municipal seats to the most connected localities through the road network to riverine communities. Based on the results, we hope to advance the discussion about the use of normative definitions of “urban” and “rural” for public policies and actions to control and eliminate malaria, considering the position of each locality in its own locally referenced urban gradient.
