Epidemiological profile of AIDS in Contagem, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2007-2011

Background and Objectives: Bucking the trend worldwide, in Brazil there is a tendency of increase in the number of AIDS cases, justifying the holding of local epidemiological studies providing subsidies for solving them. This study aimed to analyze the epidemiological profile of AIDS in Contagem, Minas Gerais, between 2007 and 2011, with reflections on educational practices for its prevention and control. Methods: This is a descriptive epidemiological study of historical time series. For the 651 new AIDS cases reported in SINAN from 2007 to 2011, it was calculated incidence rate and average rates and performed stratified analysis by gender, education, age and year of occurrence. Results: The mean annual incidence rate of AIDS and the average annual death rate per 100,000 population was 21.0 and 4.0 cases, respectively. The sex ratio (2.16: 1) remained significant (p <= 0.05) for the entire series. The feminization of the disease has been verified. Regarding education, 11 people (3.7%) were illiterate, 162 (54.0%) had up to elementary school, 84 (28.0%) had through high school and 43 (14.3%) had to higher education (p = 0.05). Conclusions: In the investigated municipality, AIDS showed an oscillatory pattern, with increased number of cases and may present a strong social determination. This indicated the need to intensify prevention and control of disease, which can be done with the use of educational approaches within the APS and educational institutions.