Temporal trend of leprosy in a region of high endemicity in the Brazilian Northeast.

Temporal trend of leprosy in a region of high endemicity in the Brazilian Northeast.
Rev Bras Enferm. 2019 Sep 16;72(5):1356-1362
Authors: Pereira TM, Silva LMSD, Dias MSA, Monteiro LD, Silva MRFD, Alencar OM
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: to analyze the temporal trend and epidemiological patterns of leprosy indicators in Sobral, a municipality countryside of the state of Ceará, from 2001 to 2016.
METHOD: a time series study based on data from the Department of Informatics of the Unified Health System. The time trend analysis was performed using the join point regression model.
RESULTS: There were 2,220 new cases of leprosy in Sobral from 2001 to 2016. Of these, 158 (7.2%) in children younger than 15 years of age, the proportion of new male cases was 52.8% (1,162), cases with grade 2 were 7.0% (156), and proportion of cases diagnosed by contact examination 5.7% (126).
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: leprosy remains hyperendemic in adults and children, demonstrating the character of neglected disease. Analysis of the temporal trend allowed to verify that the instability in the detection coefficients, reflect operational problems in the organization of the services.
PMID: 31531662 [PubMed - in process]

Source: Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem - September 15, 2019 Category: Nursing Authors: Pereira TM, Silva LMSD, Dias MSA, Monteiro LD, Silva MRFD, Alencar OM Tags: Rev Bras Enferm Source Type: research