Historically, health policies and actions to combat dengue have been based on vector control and field activities, while neglecting health education activities. Establishing the social representations of family health unit professionals about the factors that contribute to the sustained level of the occurrence rates of dengue is the scope of this research, in order to contribute to improved communication between health professionals and citizens, seeking to control the disease. A qualitative study was conducted with family health strategy professionals in six selected cities, with data tabulated by the Collective Subject Discourse technique. The results showed four discourses about the issues that were raised by the question of what caused the incidence of dengue. The conclusion drawn is that the professionals attribute the major share of responsibility for the incidence of dengue to the population, but also note the lack of structure and organization of services as well as perceiving difficulties for changes in observed behavior to occur with the resources available.
Dengue; Health personnel; Family health; Prevention; Behavior
