Introduction: The incidence of dengue (serum type I) in the city of S. José do Rio Preto during an epidemic which occurred in the first semester of 1995 is analyzed in terms of geographical areas defined by socioeconomic variables.
Material and method: The epidemiological method of analysis is the "ecological study" type. To calculate the coefficient of incidence of dengue, all cases both confirmed and reported between January and July, 1995 are considered. The environmental units are defined according to socioeconomic variables based on the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) Census of 1991, through cluster analysis. The linear correlation coefficient between coefficient of incidence and environmental variables is also calculated.
Results and discussion: Three distinct environmental units are identified and described on the basis of both economic and educational level. The coefficient of incidence of dengue varied in accordance with the environmental unit: in the unit of low standard the coefficient was 2.7 times greater than that of the unit of highest standard, showing that in these units the determining factors of dengue have a differentiating effect. The roles of some of the determining factors such as population density, basic sanitary services and vector density are discussed. The importance of this study for the control of dengue is also emphasized.