Abstract
This study was developed to evaluate the situation of leprosy in the general population of the municipality of Buriticupu, State of Maranhão, Brazil. We used the method of active search to identify new cases from 2008 to 2010. Bacilloscopy of intradermal scrapings was performed in all patients with skin lesions compatible with leprosy, and histopathological examination in those who had doubts on the definition of the clinical form. The study included 19,104 individuals, with 42 patients diagnosed with leprosy after clinical examination, representing a detection rate of 219.84 per 100,000 inhabitants. The predominant clinical presentation was tuberculoid with 24 (57.1%) cases, followed by borderline with 11, indeterminate with four, and lepromatous with three cases. The study also allowed the identification of 81 patients with a history of leprosy and other skin diseases, such as pityriasis versicolor, dermatophytosis, scabies, vitiligo, and skin carcinoma. The binomial test showed that the proportion of cases in the headquarters was significantly higher than that in the villages (p = 0.04), and the generalized exact test showed that there was no association between age and clinical form (p = 0.438) and between age and gender (p = 0.083). The elevated detection rate defines the city as hyperendemic for leprosy; the active search for cases, as well as the organization of health services, is an important method for disease control.
Highlights
This study was developed to evaluate the situation of leprosy in the general population of the municipality of Buriticupu, State of Maranhão, Brazil
The project Integrated Control of Leprosy in the Municipality of Buriticupu was implemented with the following phases: Implementation or Phase I, developed from 2004 to 2005 in order to determine the detection rate in children under 15 years; Consolidation or Phase II, from 2006 to 2007, to identify leprosy in adults; Consolidation or Phase III, from 2008 to 2010, to detect leprosy in the general population; and Maintenance or Phase IV, to be developed from 2011 to 2014, which will seek to strengthen health surveillance and the decentralization of diagnosis and treatment, contributing to the elimination of leprosy in the municipality of Buriticupu as provided in the National Leprosy Control Program
A ratio of 1 man to 1.2 women was found in the study of the active search, repeating the finding in previous
Summary
This study was developed to evaluate the situation of leprosy in the general population of the municipality of Buriticupu, State of Maranhão, Brazil. Results: The study included 19,104 individuals, with 42 patients diagnosed with leprosy after clinical examination, representing a detection rate of 219.84 per 100,000 inhabitants. Leprosy was a health problem in only 15 countries (prevalence rate > 1 per 10,000), including Brazil[1]. After more than 20 years, the National Leprosy Control Program (PNCH) in Brazil, following a new global goal of control of the WHO, takes over efforts to control the disease and replaces the point prevalence indicator with the detection rate of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants[2,3]. The detection rate decreased from 29.37 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2003 to 20.52 per 100,000 inhabitants in 20083 Despite this progress, Brazil, along with other fifteen countries, accounted for 93% of total global cases of leprosy in 20094
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