Dados do Trabalho

Título

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF HANSEN’S DISEASE IN THE PEDIATRIC POPULATION IN THE STATE OF GOIAS: FROM 2010 TO 2022

Introdução

Hansen's disease or leprosy is an infection caused by the Mycobacterium leprae that can affect peripheral nerves, cause severe neural damage and lead to permanent grade-2 disability. Children are particularly vulnerable not only due to their immature immune systems, but also due to the possible psychological and emotional damage as a result of the stigma associated with this disease.

Objetivo

To describe the profile of the pediatric population with leprosy in the state of Goiás in Brazil.

Método

A retrospective descriptive epidemiological study was carried out on the notified cases of leprosy in Goiás, between 2010 and 2022. The data was collected from the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) databases. The age group analyzed was from 0 to 14 years. The variables evaluated were: age, sex, skin color, pregnancy, operational class and number of multidrug therapy (MDT) doses.

Resultados e Conclusões

Between 2010 and 2022, 970 cases were notified in the 0-14 age group. In 2015, there were 108 cases and in 2016, 64. In 2019, the number of cases was 53. In 2020, there was a significant drop to 34 cases. This data kept decreasing to 27 cases in 2021 and 15 in 2022. Regarding the age groups, in this period, 37 cases were reported in children aged 0-4, 289 in children aged 5-9 and 644 in people aged 10-14 years. More boys (496) were affected than girls (474). The majority of the individuals had brown skin color (62,16%). In addition, there were 72 pregnancies with Hansen's disease (17 with unknown gestational age, 17 in the first, 22 in the second and 16 in the third trimester). About the operational class, 569 individuals were diagnosed with multibacillary (MB) and 395 with paucibacillary (PB) leprosy. Of the filled data with number of MDT doses, 9,6% of PB and 23,4% of MB patients didn’t complete the recommended treatment.

This study found that the number of notified cases has been decreasing since 2015, with an accentuated drop since the pandemic started in 2020. It’s not possible to determine if this tendency is due to the reduction of the infection itself or if there has been an underreporting of new cases. However, the majority of cases are notified when the disease is already in an advanced stage, which is concerning. In addition, there is a noteworthy percentage of uncompleted treatment. Hence, prevention, early detection and treatment adherence are urgent to control this disease, especially considering Primary Care and the Family Health Strategy as a public policy.

Palavras Chave

Leprosy; Child; Epidemiology; Neurology

Declaração de conflito de interesses de TODOS os autores

There are no conflicts of interest.