As Feiras de Saúde do curso de Medicina da Universidade Federal de Roraima (UFRR) buscam informar e sensibilizar a comunidade quanto à melhoria da qualidade de vida a partir da prevenção, orientando para a mudança de hábitos de vida e diagnosticando precocemente as doenças a fim de tratá-las e curá-las. Além disso, a UFRR busca se aproximar da população boa-vistense por meio desse trabalho de extensão universitária e da realização de um serviço de utilidade pública de grande relevância acadêmica e comunitária. A diversidade das lições aprendidas, registradas como relatos de experiências ou como estudos, pelo conjunto de profissionais, gestores, pesquisadores e acadêmicos constituiu um importante estímulo ao debate acerca dos limites e possibilidades do Programa Saúde da Família e da interação do acadêmico na comunidade.

Health fairs held by the School of Medicine at the Federal University in Roraima (UFRR) aim to raise community awareness concerning improved quality of life based on prevention, orienting people for lifestyle changes and early diagnosis of diseases. The university also promotes greater exchange with the population of Boa Vista through this extension work, a highly relevant public utility service for academia and the local community. The range of lessons learned, documented through reports of experiences and case studies by health professionals, administrators, researchers, and students, provided an important stimulus for the debate on the limits and possibilities of the Family Health Program and interaction between medical students and the community.

Roraima is the northernmost state of Brazil, bordering both Venezuela and Guyana. Appropriate climate and vector conditions for dengue transmission together with its proximity to countries where all four dengue serotypes circulate make this state, particularly the capital Boa Vista, strategically important for dengue surveillance in Brazil. Nonetheless, few studies have addressed the population dynamics of Aedes aegypti in Boa Vista. In this study, we report temporal and spatial variations in Ae. aegypti population density using ovitraps in two highly populated neighbourhoods; Centro and Tancredo Neves. In three out of six surveys, Ae. aegypti was present in more than 80% of the sites visited. High presence levels of this mosquito suggest ubiquitous human exposure to the vector, at least during part of the year. The highest infestation rates occurred during the peak of the rainy seasons, but a large presence was also observed during the early dry season (although with more variation among years). Spatial distribution of positive houses changed from a sparse and local pattern to a very dense pattern during the dry-wet season transition. These results suggest that the risk of dengue transmission and the potential for the new serotype invasions are high for most of the year.