ABSTRACT
Trachoma, an ophthalmic disease with a high risk of blindness, became endemic in the late nineteenth century in several countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and America. In Brazil, the disease was more intense in states with a strong immigration policy, especially in São Paulo, affecting mainly the rural population. This article aims to analyze how the spread of trachoma in the beginning of the 20th century in São Paulo created fissures in international relations and how the pressure exerted by the international community could have influenced the prophylactic measures implemented. The research showed us that government actions to combat trachoma that were carried out intermittently coincided with periods of dissent with Italy, Spain and Argentina, demonstrating that immigration issues were strongly rooted among the factors that defined health policy strategies of the period.
Keywords:
History of Health and Diseases; History of Public Health; History of Epidemics; trachoma; São Paulo