Dados do Trabalho

Título

Region in the Amazon has high rates of hidden prevalence of leprosy and high cases with disabilities.

Resumo

Introduction: The method to estimate the hidden prevalence of leprosy, was proposed by Gil Suáres and Lombardi, in 1997, and is used and suggested by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and used by the WHO (2016), it is based on the percentage of cases with some incapacity in the diagnosis (in relation to those evaluated), and applied to the total of new cases in the last 05 years of the research. At the end, the hidden prevalence is added to the new cases and the estimated real prevalence is obtained.
Objectives: Evaluate the hidden prevalence of leprosy in the 11th Health Region of Pará, Brazil, between 2010 and 2020. Method: This is a cross-sectional and retrospective study, with data from the information system of notification disputes in Brazil. The data were organized in worksheet and analyzed according to the methodology proposed by Gil Suáres and Lombardi (1997), and recommended by the World Health Organization and the Pan-American Health Organization.
Results: The 11th Health Region of Pará was classified in 2010 as a hyperendemic area, with a detection rate of 90/100.000 inhabitants. Over the years, this rate has decreased, and in 2020 it was 29/100.000 inhabitants, where much of this decrease may be related to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, even with a significant decrease in cases (p<0.05), the region is classified in the parameter of very high edemicity, with high rates of cases in children under 15 years old (11.3%) and some degree of disability (27%). Regarding occult leprosy, 792 cases were not diagnosed in the study region, thus suggesting an occult prevalence of 8.19/10,000 inhabitants. In other words, it can be said that 23% of the cases were not diagnosed and, consequently, went untreated, maintaining the active cycle of leprosy in the region. Conclusion: It is concluded that the 11th Health Region of Pará has a high rate of leprosy in children under 15 years of age, and in this region it is a very disabling disease with many hidden cases, keeping the transmission cycle active, resulting in a region with difficult to control leprosy.