Londrina participates in national research on the effects of Covid-19

Londrina is among the 133 Brazilian cities and six cities in the state of Paraná selected to participate in the Epicovid 2.0 survey.

The study aims to monitor the spread of the coronavirus in the country and assess the impact of the pandemic on the Brazilian population, and is a continuation of the Epicovid-19 research, carried out in 2020 and 2021.

Funded by the Ministry of Health, the initiative is coordinated by UFPel (Center for Epidemiological Research at the Federal University of Pelotas).

Data collection is done through home visits and the application of questionnaires carried out by the company LGA Assessoria Empresarial, hired to carry out this stage of the research.

In addition to the Ministry of Health and UFPel, UCPel (Catholic University of Pelotas), UFCSPA (Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre), Fiocruz (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz) and FVG (Fundação Getúlio) are directly involved in the study. Vargas).

The work began on Monday (11), and 250 people who have already taken part in the four previous rounds of scientific work, between 2020 and 2021, will be interviewed in Londrina.

During visits, teams of interviewers apply a questionnaire that addresses questions related to long-lasting symptoms. Among the topics covered are vaccination and vaccine hesitancy, non-communicable diseases and conditions, infectious diseases, mental health, job loss, financial and educational impacts and mourning the loss of family and friends.

In total, in Brazil, 33,250 people will be interviewed. According to UFPel epidemiologist Pedro Hallal, creator and leader of Epicovid, the data collection period is expected to last between 15 and 20 days.

“Epicovid 2.0 is a new phase of the study that began in 2020. Although we are now no longer under a serious pandemic like we had, the virus continues in society and its effects on people’s lives as well. This is now our target, to understand the impact of Covid-19 on the lives of Brazilian people and families”, he explains.

The director of Health Surveillance at the Municipal Health Department of Londrina, Cláudia Monteiro, emphasizes the importance of the population’s participation in the research.

“Although it is not mandatory, the population’s participation is very important for us to understand the impact of this disease on the community and to have the knowledge to develop effective public policies in the future. Remembering that the interviewers must be identified and in uniform, and they will offer a consent form for participation in this research”, she said.

Based on the results of Epicovid 2.0, the objective is for the Ministry of Health to be able to qualify and expand the specialized services required due to the effects of the so-called long Covid.

The complete analysis of the data will also support scientific articles that help to understand the impact of Covid-19 in Brazil.

The participating cities were chosen because they are the largest municipalities in the country’s demographic divisions, according to IBGE criteria. Along with Londrina in this research, there are five other cities in the state of Paraná: the capital Curitiba, Maringá, Cascavel, Ponta Grossa and Guarapuava.