PREVALENT CHILDHOOD DISEASES – CLINICAL EVALUATION AND CONTINUING CARE IN THE SCOPE OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE (PHC)

Abstract

Childhood constitutes a phase of intense physical, cognitive, and social transformations, which makes it particularly susceptible to illness and clinical vulnerability. In the Brazilian context, the main childhood illnesses requiring attention within the scope of Primary Health Care (PHC) include acute respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, enteroparasitoses, asthma, iron-deficiency anemia, vitamin A deficiency, and arboviral infections. Given this scenario, PHC plays a strategic role in promoting child health by articulating prevention, health surveillance, early diagnosis, and continuous care, with a focus on comprehensive care and territorialized clinical practices. This article analyzes the clinical approach and longitudinal follow-up of prevalent childhood diseases in the context of PHC, considering the guidelines of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) and the specificities of pediatric care within the territory. The general objective is to understand how PHC organizes and executes clinical management and ongoing care actions in response to the most frequent childhood illnesses. The specific objectives are: (1) to identify the main childhood diseases addressed in PHC; (2) to analyze clinical protocols and adopted care strategies; and (3) to discuss the centrality of bonding, continuity, and family participation in the effectiveness of care. Theoretically, this study is grounded in the works of Bagrichevsky and Estevão (2015), Barbosa (2002), Canguilhem (2009), Farmer (1998; 2003; 2013), Giovanella (2012), Illich (1975; 1982), Kickbusch (2013), Levy and Sidel (2005; 2007), Marmot (2005; 2015), McKeown (1980), Mendes (2011), Merhy (2007; 2016), Minayo (2007), Paim (2011; 2012), Pickett and Wilkinson (2010), Richter (2001), Santos (2023), Starfield (1994; 2002; 2005), Werner (2009), Wilkinson and Marmot (2005; 2010), among others, as well as documents from WHO and UNICEF (2005). This is a qualitative study based on Minayo (2007), with a bibliographic and descriptive approach as proposed by Gil (2008), and a critical-comprehensive analysis according to Weber (1949). The findings of this research show that Primary Health Care (PHC) plays a central and irreplaceable role in the clinical management and continuous follow-up of prevalent childhood diseases. Through territorial actions, qualified listening, and lasting bonds with families, PHC ensures more comprehensive, resolutive, and humanized care, especially in contexts of greater social vulnerability. It was observed that the success of clinical practices depends, above all, on the articulation between protocols, local knowledge, and the daily presence of health teams in the territories. Thus, PHC consolidates itself as the structural foundation of child health protection within SUS.