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Título

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL PROFILE OF LEPROSY IN AN AMAZON HEALTH REGION.

Resumo

Introduction: Leprosy is a chronic, granulomatous, infectious disease, caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, also called Hansen's bacillus, an alcohol-acid resistant bacillus, which has the characteristic of being obligatory intracellular, demonstrating a peculiarity of predilection for skin cells and cells. peripheral nerves, which settles in the infected person's body and can multiply. By 2005, leprosy elimination had been achieved in all countries except: Angola, Brazil, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nepal, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania. Brazil has an average detection rate of 12.2 cases/100,000 inhabitants, being classified as having a high burden for the disease and, in the world ranking, as the 2nd country with the highest number of new cases registered in the world, second only to India. Objectives: To trace the epidemiological profile of the leprosy in the 11th Health Region of Pará, from 2010 to 2020. Method: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive, retrospective epidemiological study with a quantitative approach, based on secondary data collections, reported in the System of Notifiable Diseases Information (SINAN), from 2010 to 2021. The data were organized in Excel spreadsheets and statistically analyzed in Bioestat 5.3. Results: During the period from 2010 to 2020, 9,863 cases of leprosy were reported in the 11th Health Region of Pará, with 7,966 new cases, with an average of 896 notifications/year. Despite the large decline in the annual detection rate of leprosy in the region, based on the first and last year of the survey (2010 - 2020), the region is still in the Very High Endemicity profile, with 29 cases per 100,000 inhabitants/year. The profile of leprosy cases in the region is predominantly male (62.4%), between 15 and 50 years old (60.6%), brown (67.8%) and with a low level of education (73.9%). Mostly Multibacillary (68%) and Dimorphic (57%), reflecting high percentages of disabilities (27%) and new cases in children under 15 years of age (12.6%). Conclusion: It is concluded that leprosy is a public health problem in the region, with high rates of disability, under 15 years-old and hidden cases, requiring interventions in various spectrums, such as active casework, better monitoring of the treatment, training of the professionals about the disease and its attributions, as well as health education for the population on the subject.

Palavras Chave

Leprosy. Epidemiology. Mycobacterium leprae. Public health.