Plants used to treat Dengue by people from the neighboring platinum and Amazon basins, southwestern portion of Mato Grosso, Brazil

Plants with bioactive compounds can help in public health actions. Dengue fever is a neglected disease. It affects all social classes, ages but especially the poorest. Hematophagous mosquitoes (dengue vectors) proliferate in accumulated waters. Dengue can be hemorrhagic and in this case it is serious and can lead to death. It is a challenge to public health, especially in the tropics. Peaks of maximum occurrence are in the rainy season, when emergency rooms are often congested. The fight begins eliminating standing water, but this should be associated with other measures such as protection from mosquitoes, by use of screens, nets, fans, repellents; application of mosquitocides, larvicides in infested areas. Some plants, like Anacardium spp. can help, through their bioactive substances, to combat the mosquito vector; still other plants can help in caring for patients. This study aims to present plants used to treat dengue by people who inhabit the borderland basins Platinum (P) and Amazon (A). In 2005, municipalities were visited (P: 14, PA: 3, A: 4) in southwestern Mato Grosso, Brazil for data collection, through interviews, made with informants (63) considered the most knowledgeable in the subject and indicated by the local community. People wanted to know which were the most important medicinal plants and for what purpose they are used. Dengue has been mentioned as painful in three counties (P: Cáceres, Porto Estrela, Araputanga). To treat dengue, informants (P = 5, A = 0) indicated the use of five plant species: “Acerola” (Malpighia glabra L.), “Esponja vegetal” (Luffa acutangula (L.)Roxb.), “Manga” (Mangifera indica L.), “Melão-de-São-Caetano” (Momordica charantia L.), “Canela” (Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume). Species for which more or less scientific studies associated with dengue were available online in April 2013, are, respectively: C. zeylanicum and M. charantia; M. glabra and L. acutangula. Further studies on these plants usefulness for dengue are suggested.