SUMMARY

Three hundred and ninety-six inhabitants of Sítio Barro Vermelho, located at Barbalha city, Ceará, Brazil, were studied, prospectivelly, in a transversal cut, regarding their ocular clinical and laboratorial features. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the trachoma's prevalence and the clinical and antimicrobial efficacy of cloridrate of ciprofloxacin (0.3%) drops and tetracycline 1% ointment in trachoma's treatment.

It was found that trachoma, in its different forms, occurs in 38.13% of the population. The follicular form occurred more often in children and the cicatricial one in adults. In this population, trachoma was not a blindness disease.

The treatment was followed significantly by the patients but not the way it had been originally proposed. This was due to cases of mild manifestation of the disease, side-effects of the ointment and low social, economical and cultural level of the patients in generally.

Regarding the clinical response, there was no significant difference between the two different forms of treatment and the placebo.

The treatment of sample reduced the number of microorganisms at the conjunctive. This reduction of microorganisms was noted independently of the type of treatment, including the placebo, but it did not happen in those persons who refused treatment altogether. Therefore, the simple ocular hygiene changes the behavior of trachoma. The improvement of the social, economic and educational conditions of the population would be the safer way to eradicate the trachoma from our country.