Perfil epidemiológico dos pacientes com hanseníase no extremo sul de Santa Catarina, no período de 2001 a 2007

Abstract

Leprosy is one of the oldest diseases of humanity and persists as a serious public health problem. Brazil has the highest incidence and second highest prevalence. In the Americas, it accounts for 93% of the cases, according to World Health Organization data from 2008. The objective of this study was to ascertain the profile of leprosy patients in the municipalities of the Association of Municipalities of the Carboniferous Region (AMREC), over the period from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2007. This was a retrospective cross-sectional study carried out in the AMREC region in Santa Catarina, Brazil. The sample was of census type, in which all the patients notified were analyzed. 54 patients were analyzed, among whom 57% were female and 42.6% were male. The most prevalent age group was from 30 to 39 years old (31.5%) and 79.6% had white skin color. The occupation was unknown in 51 cases, as was bacilloscopy in 98%. The tuberculoid and Virchowian forms each presented a frequency of 27.8%. The coefficient of detection observed in the municipalities ranged from low to very high. Neither multibacillary nor paucibacillary forms predominated in the analysis, nor any specific clinical form. Nevertheless, it is known that cases are being diagnosed late because of the low percentage of indeterminate cases, with predominance among females. Added to this, the information on the notification forms is sparse, which makes it impossible to show the realities of the study population.