Malaria is a disease with focal distribution. In Brazil, settlement and gold mining areas in the Legal Amazon region present a great concentration of cases. This paper analyzes the spatial distribution of malaria cases taking into consideration environmental and social factors in the Vale do Amanhecer settlement in the municipality of Juruena, Mato Grosso, Brazil. In 2005, 359 autochthonous cases were notified in the settlement. Using the Kernel method, areas of greater and lesser intensities of case numbers were identified. The areas of greater intensity presented 290 cases and those of lesser intensity, 64 cases. The intensity of distribution varied within the settlement, thus indicating areas of great intensity of cases favoring transmission, like gold mining areas. Therefore, although the settlement was considered to be the main focus for malaria, there were specific factors within it that, once identified, could contribute towards the disease control.
Malaria; Settlement; Spatial analysis; Kernel method
