Tungiasis-related knowledge of health professionals from an endemic area of Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2010

Objective: to describe tungiasis-related knowledge of health professionals in an endemic area. Methods: a cross-sectional study, using structured questionnaire applied to 78 public health professionals of six districts in the municipality of Uber-landia, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, in 2010. Results: the study included 78 health professionals, from which 38 reported their observation of high prevalence of tungiasis in humans; for 61 of them, tungiasis occurrence has seasonal variation, from July to September; severe cases were correctly associated with secondary infections (20/78) or superinfestation (11/78); most of the questions had considerable proportion of answers 'Do not know' (Min-Max: 8/78-52/78), especially those related to the epidemiology of the disease. Conclusion: tungiasis is neglected by primary health care and the knowledge of health professionals about the disease, even in endemic areas were they work, is insufficient.