This paper presents in a panoramic way some relevant questions related to the present status of the epidemiologic knowledge and practices in Brazil and its relationship with the international movement in this field. Following, its paradigmatic crisis was characterized and some relevant theoretical and methodological questions towards the definition of a new paradigm were raised. Other topic discussed was about the utilization of the epidemiological knowledge in the health services. At the end, the trends in the development of the hegemonic epidemiology were considered, as well as its contra-hegemonic counter-part.
Epidemiology; Trends; Latin America