[Socioeconomic factors and attitudes towards household prevention of American cutaneous leishmaniasis in an endemic area in Southern Bahia, Brazil].

A survey was conducted to identify socioeconomic conditions and attitudes towards household prevention of American cutaneous leishmaniasis in Corte de Pedra, located in the county of Tancredo Neves, an endemic region in southern Bahia, Brazil. A questionnaire was applied in July 1997, focusing on social and economic variables, habits, and attitudes towards prevention of arthropod bites. All families (100%) living in the study area were surveyed, comprising 168 households with 851 individuals. Approximately 66.7% of the families earned up to one minimum wage, supporting an average of 5.1 residents per household. Most (57.2%) of the families did not use any type of protection against bites. Fumigation by burning various types of materials was the most customary form of prevention. Individual protection measures were rarely used. Since there was evidence of household and peridomiciliary transmission in the study area, use of impregnated bed nets is an alternative for intradomiciliary protection.