FOREST FIRES AND HOSPITALIZATIONS FOR RESPIRATORY DISEASES IN THE STATE OF SÃO PAULO

Abstract

In 2024, São Paulo State recorded the highest number of fire outbreaks in 14 years, and the resulting soot worsened respiratory diseases. Our goal was to analyze the impact of forest fires on the respiratory health of São Paulo’s population. We integrated data from DATASUS and INPE (2018–2024, excluding 2020–2021 due to the pandemic). Mapping was performed in R environment, and the literature search was conducted on PubMed, Dimensions, and SciELO. Results indicate that although São Paulo and Campinas regions show the highest number of hospitalizations, the Northwest and North regions have the highest hospitalization rates per inhabitant. These same regions also recorded the most fires, suggesting a possible association between fire incidence and increased hospitalizations