Exploratory analysis based on leprosy epidemiological and operational indicators in the city of Governador Valadares/MG/Brazil

Abstract

Governador Valadares (GV) is a municipality of recognized leprosy hyperendemicity. From 2001 to 2010, the municipal health management invested in a heterogeneous way in the decentralization of control actions to expand access to diagnosis, highlighting the years 2002 and 2004, when training-campaigns took place in the Family’s Health Program. It is an epidemiological study, of a descriptive nature, of a longitudinal type, developed in the city of GV/Minas Gerais/Brazil. The variables collected were: Age group, categorized as <15 years and> 15 years; Gender; Year of notification; Operational classification categorized as paucibacillary and multibacillary; Number of registered household and outside contacts, classified by whole numbers starting with zero (no communications), and mode of entry, as new or not. The estimates obtained from the analysis of municipal indicators reveal that the coefficients of general detection and children under 15 years old remained at hyperendemic levels during the ten years of study with an apparent decrease in general detection to the period studied. Furthermore, according to national parameters, it was observed maintenance of a consistent number of diagnoses in children under 15 and insufficient contact examination coverage. Our study points to the importance of continuing leprosy control actions over time. Observing the findings related to some epidemiological and operational leprosy indicators in GV from 2001 to 2010 makes us aware of a high disease burden. Keywords: Epidemiological parameters, leprosy, operational indicators