Objective.
To investigate whether solid waste management and municipal socioeconomic indicators are associated with incidence rates of dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya in municipalities located in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Methods.
This exploratory, quantitative, cross-sectional study included all the 853 municipalities of Minas Gerais. Only secondary data were used, collected and grouped according to planning regions. Independent variables included regular urban solid waste collection, separated waste collection, and urban solid waste mass, in addition to a quality indicator of final waste disposal, municipal human development and Gini indices, monthly per capita income, and percentage of population vulnerable to poverty. The factors potentially associated with outcomes – municipal incidence of dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika – were initially selected by univariate analysis, followed by linear regression analysis for the incidence of dengue, Chikungunya, or Zika using the predictors selected through univariate analysis.
Results.
Solid waste management was not associated with incidence of Zika or Chikungunya. In turn, the incidence of dengue was associated with solid waste management and had a significant inverse association with percent population vulnerable to poverty. A direct association was also observed with Gini index, suggesting that the higher the incidence of dengue from 2007 to 2016, the higher the municipal Gini coefficient and thus social inequality. Selective waste collection was inversely and significantly correlated with dengue cases, suggesting that the lower the coverage by regular separated waste collection, the higher the number of dengue cases.
Conclusions.
Solid waste management may influence the occurrence of dengue cases, and therefore should be considered in the planning of public health actions.