Social, environmental, and epidemiological aspects of leprosy occurrence in children in a hyperendemic region of Brazil

Silvana Margarida Benevides Ferreira,Emerson Soares Dos Santos,Pãmela Rodrigues De Souza Silva,Fabiane Verônica Da Silva,R B F Machado,Gutembergue Dos Santos Sousa,Denise Da Costa Boamorte Cortela

doi:10.47276/lr.92.4.398

Silvana Margarida Benevides Ferreira, Emerson Soares Dos Santos + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.47276/lr.92.4.398

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Abstract

Introduction This is a case-control study aiming to analyze the predictive factors for the occurrence of leprosy in contacts under 15 years of age, considering aspects related to the socio-environmental and epidemiological conditions in a hyperendemic municipality. Methods Cases (n = 30) consisted of children with leprosy who were household contacts of adults notified with leprosy between 2016 and 2018. The controls (n = 128) comprised neighborhood contacts, without symptoms of leprosy, living within a radius of less than 100 m of the households with cases. Demographic, social, environmental, and epidemiological variables were analyzed. The software SPSS, version 20, was used. Odds Ratio and statistical significance level of p ≤ 0.05 were considered for association analysis. In the logistic regression analysis, the variables with results ≤20% were selected. Results After adjustments, the predictive variables for the occurrence of leprosy were age between 8 and 14 years (OR adjust = 4.5; 95% CI: 1.70; 12.18) and a family history of leprosy (OR adjust = 5.2; 95% CI: 1.95; 14.13). Conclusions The predictive factors studied may favor the occurrence of leprosy in those most vulnerable to this disease in the child population; strategies such as the use of immune chemoprophylaxis are recommended, especially in hyperendemic regions, such as the state of Mato Grosso.

Highlights

Leprosy is characterized as an infectious, transmissible disease of chronic nature, whose etiological agent is Mycobacterium leprae
Owing to the possible factors that contribute to the hyperendemicity of this disease, this study aimed to analyze the predictive factors for the occurrence of leprosy among household contacts, under the age of 15, regarding aspects relative to the socio-environmental and epidemiological conditions in the capital of the state of Mato Grosso, Center-West region of Brazil
The study was developed in the state of Mato Grosso, in the municipality of Cuiabá, comprising urban and rural areas that had cases of leprosy in children and adolescents that were household contacts of cases diagnosed with the disease

Summary

Introduction

Leprosy is characterized as an infectious, transmissible disease of chronic nature, whose etiological agent is Mycobacterium leprae. Despite advances in leprosy control in endemic countries, it still persists as a public health problem in Brazil.[1,2]. Between 2010 and 2019, Brazil registered 20,684 new cases of leprosy in this age group and, in 2019, of the 1545 new cases reported, the detection rate was 3.44 per 100,000 children.[1,2] worthy of notice is the relevance of cases diagnosed with grade 2 physical disability, in the same year, of 11.16 cases per 1 million inhabitants (1108 new cases).[1] In this scenario, Brazil remains with a hyperendemic profile, ranking second among the countries with the highest number of new cases of the disease in the world.[1,2]

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