Pau da Lima is a slum neighborhood that grew at the outskirts of urban Salvador. Originally, it was unoccupied land that began to attract people in the 1950s given its relative tranquility and closeness to Salvador. Pau da Lima is near two large roadways, which has impacted its growth and increasing population density. For over five years, Fiocruz has been leading community-based cohort studies on urban leptospirosis in Pau da Lima that aim to understand the transmission dynamics of urban leptospirosis within this community.

Site Visit: Thanks to the collaboration of the Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz (Fiocruz), its Director, Mitermayer Reis, Albert Ko, Ridalva Felzemburgh, and others, students in this course have the opportunity to visit Pau da Lima and São the Marcos Health Clinic.

Objective: Visit an urban community whose population is at risk of contracting leptospirosis. Identify the environmental and social determinants of infection. Understand how an emergency healthcare facility serves this community.