Jailson Correia

Role: Invited Speaker
Affiliation: Recife City Hall

Biography:

Dr Jailson B. Correia, 46, is a medical doctor from Recife, Brazil. He holds a Masters in Tropical Paediatrics (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine) and a PhD (University of Liverpool, UK). He has published 40 papers in PubMed-indexed journals and is a Senior Lecturer in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Pernambuco (Brazil). He was Director of the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Health (Brasilia, Brazil). In 2013, he was appointed as Health Secretary of Recife and has ever since been leading the city´s response to microcephaly and the epidemics of Zika, Chikungunyia and Dengue.

Abstract:

The emergence of Zika-related microcephaly and other congenital malformations was first observed in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. The unprecedented circulation of Zika virus in northeast Brazil occurred almost simultaneously with epidemics of dengue (four types) and the outbreak following the introduction of Chikungunyia virus. Aedes aegypti was therefore at the centre of a public health emergency of global relevance. A brief overview of the triple epidemics in Recife is presented and innovative solutions to fight Aedes aegypti are discussed, including participatory epidemiology, risk stratification, disease modelling and outbreak prediction, use of modified mosquitos, drones and ovitraps.