BackgroundAlthough the detection rate is decreasing, the proportion of new cases with WHO grade 2 disability (G2D) is increasing, creating concern among policy makers and the Brazilian government. This study aimed to identify spatial clustering of leprosy and classify high-risk areas in a major leprosy cluster using the SatScan method.MethodsData were obtained including all leprosy cases diagnosed between January 2006 and December 2013. In addition to the clinical variable, information was also gathered regarding the G2D of the patient at diagnosis and after treatment. The Scan Spatial statistic test, developed by Kulldorff e Nagarwalla, was used to identify spatial clustering and to measure the local risk (Relative Risk—RR) of leprosy. Maps considering these risks and their confidence intervals were constructed.ResultsA total of 434 cases were identified, including 188 (43.31%) borderline leprosy and 101 (23.28%) lepromatous leprosy cases. There was a predominance of males, with ages ranging from 15 to 59 years, and 51 patients (11.75%) presented G2D. Two significant spatial clusters and three significant spatial-temporal clusters were also observed. The main spatial cluster (p = 0.000) contained 90 census tracts, a population of approximately 58,438 inhabitants, detection rate of 22.6 cases per 100,000 people and RR of approximately 3.41 (95%CI = 2.721–4.267). Regarding the spatial-temporal clusters, two clusters were observed, with RR ranging between 24.35 (95%CI = 11.133–52.984) and 15.24 (95%CI = 10.114–22.919).ConclusionThese findings could contribute to improvements in policies and programming, aiming for the eradication of leprosy in Brazil. The Spatial Scan statistic test was found to be an interesting resource for health managers and healthcare professionals to map the vulnerability of areas in terms of leprosy transmission risk and areas of underreporting.

Healthcare-associated infections are a major cause of morbidity-mortality among hospitalized patients. The aim of this epidemiological study was to determine mortality and risks related to death in adult patients with healthcare-associated infections admitted to a teaching hospital in one year. Patient data were collected from infection medical reports. The mortality rate associated with infections was 38.4%, and it was classified as a contributing factor to deaths in 87.1% of death cases. The correlation between healthcare-associated infection and death was statistically significant among clinical patients (41.3%) presenting comorbidities related to the diagnosis (55.8%), cardiovascular infection (62.2%), pneumonia (48.9%), developing sepsis (69.0%), as well as patients who had been colonized (45.2%) and infected (44.7%) by multidrug resistance microorganisms.

entre 2002 e 2006, realizada com base na análise de 497 prontuários médicos. Norteada por instrumento previamente elaborado, quanto aos dados demográficos a pesquisa revela considerável predomínio da infecção em indivíduos do sexo masculino (62%) em comparação ao sexo feminino (38%), residentes em Londrina (65%), com baixo nível de escolaridade (58%), baixa renda econômica (68%) e profissionais autônomos (20%), do lar (17%), aposentados (7,6%), em situações conjugais de solteiros (40%) e união livre (34%). Sobre os dados clínicos, as principais complicações clínicas, motivo de internações, concentram: turberculose (28,2%), monilíase/candidíase oral (27,1%) e neurotoxoplasmose (22,5%); com média de dias de 9,4, por internação; ligeiro predomínio de óbitos em indivíduos do sexo feminino: homens (29,4%) e mulheres (30,3%); causas terminais de morte: 37,2% para choque séptico e 21,6% para disfunção de múltiplos órgãos; e probabilidade de sobrevivência, após aproximados dez anos do diagnóstico, com sutil vantagem para os homens (65%) em relação às mulheres (59,2%).

BackgroundBrazil is the only country in Latin America that has adopted a national health system. This causes differences in access to health among Latin American countries and induces noticeable migration to Brazilian regions to seek healthcare. This phenomenon has led to difficulties in the control and elimination of diseases related to poverty, such as leprosy. The aim of this study was to evaluate social determinants and their relationship with the risk of leprosy, as well as to examine the temporal trend of its occurrence in a Brazilian municipality located on the tri-border area between Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.MethodsThis ecological study investigated newly-diagnosed cases of leprosy between 2003 and 2015. Exploratory analysis of the data was performed through descriptive statistics. For spatial analysis, geocoding of the data was performed using spatial scan statistic techniques to obtain the Relative Risk (RR) for each census tract, with their respective 95% confidence intervals calculated. The Bivariate Moran I test, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) models were applied to analyze the spatial relationships of social determinants and leprosy risk. The temporal trend of the annual coefficient of new cases was obtained through the Prais-Winsten regression. A standard error of 5% was considered statistically significant (p < 0.05).ResultsOf the 840 new cases identified in the study, there was a predominance of females (n = 427, 50.8%), of white race/color (n = 685, 81.6%), age range 15 to 59 years (n = 624, 74.3%), and incomplete elementary education (n = 504, 60.0%). The results obtained from multivariate analysis revealed that the proportion of households with monthly nominal household income per capita greater than 1 minimum wage (β = 0.025, p = 0.036) and people of brown race (β = -0.101, p = 0.024) were statistically-significantly associated with risk of illness due to leprosy. These results also confirmed that social determinants and risk of leprosy were significantly spatially non-stationary. Regarding the temporal trend, a decrease of 4% (95% CI [-0.053, -0.033], p = 0.000) per year was observed in the rate of detection of new cases of leprosy.ConclusionThe social determinants income and race/color were associated with the risk of leprosy. The study’s highlighting of these social determinants can contribute to the development of public policies directed toward the elimination of leprosy in the border region.

Introduction:The implementation of the rapid test (RT) for syphilis increases access of vulnerable populations to early diagnosis and treatment, impacting the outcomes of infection. We aimed to assess the prevalence of and factors associated with syphilis in a Center for Testing and Counseling (CTC). Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study at a Reference Center for sexually transmitted disease (STD) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome in Londrina, Northern Paraná State, Southern Brazil. Data regarding the 5,509 individuals who underwent RT from June 2012 to December 2014 were collected from patient records and the CTC Information System and served as the basis to check associations of syphilis cases (346) and cases without syphilis (5,163). Nine patients' records were not found. OpenEpi was used to perform a prevalence analysis and determine odds ratios to assess the associations between sociodemographic and behavioral variables (independent variables) and cases of syphilis (dependent variable). An alpha value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of syphilis was 6.3%; higher in males (7.5%) than in females (4.3%, p <0.001). Syphilis was associated with an age of 25-34 years, little education, and single marital status. The main associated behavioral factors were men who have sex with men, drug users, STD patients, and those presenting with an STD in the last year. The use of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and crack was significantly associated with syphilis. Conclusions: Strategies for prevention and control of syphilis should be intensified, especially in populations identified as most vulnerable.

BackgroundIn Brazil, leprosy has been listed among the health priorities since 2006, in a plan known as the “Pact for life” (Pacto pela Vida). It is the sole country on the American continent that has not reached the global goal of disease elimination. Local health systems face many challenges to achieve this global goal. The study aimed to investigate how patients perceive the local health system's performance to eliminate leprosy and whether these perceptions differ in terms of the patients' income.Methodology/Principal FindingsA cross-sectional study was conducted in Londrina, State of Paraná, Brazil. Interviews were performed with the leprosy patients. The local health system was assessed through a structured and adapted tool, considering the domains judged as good quality of health care. The authors used univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyses. One hundred and nineteen patients were recruited for the study, 50.4% (60) of them were male, 54.0% (64) were between 42 and 65 years old and 66.3% (79) had finished elementary school. The results showed that patients used the Primary Health Care service near their place of residence but did not receive the leprosy diagnosis there. Important advances of this health system were verified for the elimination of leprosy, verifying protocols for good care delivery to the leprosy patients, but these services did not develop collective health actions and did not engage the patients' family members and community.Conclusions/SignificanceThe patients' difficulty was observed to have access to the diagnosis and treatment at health services near their homes. Leprosy care is provided at the specialized level, where the patients strongly bond with the teams. The care process is individual, with limited perspectives of integration among the health services for the purpose of case management and social mobilization of the community to the leprosy problem.

As infecções relacionadas à assistência hospitalar impactam negativamente a saúde de pacientes hospitalizados, e refletem em elevados índices de morbimortalidade. Este estudo epidemiológico descritivo teve como objetivo caracterizar as infecções e avaliar seu impacto na saúde de pacientes acometidos por trauma, em um hospital universitário, no período de um ano. Os resultados mostraram que a prevalência das infecções nos pacientes do estudo foi elevada (15,6%), acometendo principalmente o sexo masculino (80,0%), com idade entre 18 e 40 anos (47,5%), período de internação maior que 15 dias (78,6%), mais frequente no trauma fechado (54,0%) e nas queimaduras (32,5%). Os principais sítios de infecção foram a pneumonia (49,5%) seguida pela infecção do trato urinário (23,8%). A intubação orotraqueal e o cateterismo vesical de longa permanência estiveram significativamente relacionados à maioria das pneumonias (60,3%; p<0,001) e infecções do trato urinário (77,3%; p<0,001), aumentando os riscos para tais infecções em 20 e 6 vezes, respectivamente. A sepse acometeu 44,7% dos pacientes. Ampla gama de microrganismos apresentou resistência aos antimicrobianos, sendo Acinetobacter baumannii (92,7%, p<0,001) e Klebsiella pneumoniae (70,5%, p<0,001) os mais prevalentes. Evoluíram a óbito 28,8% dos pacientes, e 96,8% das mortes relacionavam-se às infecções. A relação das infecções com o óbito foi estatisticamente significativa em pacientes com pneumonia (37,8%, p<0,001) e sepse (54,2%, p<0,001). A relação das infecções com a maioria dos óbitos evidenciou o impacto negativo desta complicação na saúde das vítimas de traumas. ResumoHealthcare associated infections have an impact on the health of hospitalized patients and are reflected in high rates of morbidity and mortality. The aim of this descriptive study is to characterize the infections and evaluate their impact on trauma patient health at a University Hospital over a 1-year period. The results showed that the prevalence of infections in trauma patients was elevated (15.6%), affecting mainly males (80.0%), ages between 18 and 30 years (47.5%), more than 15 days hospitalization (78.6%), more frequent in blunt trauma (54.0%) and in burns (32.5%). The principal sites of infection were pneumonia (49.5%) Palavras-chave: Infecção hospitalar. Sepse. Epidemiologia. Causas externas.

Background: Leprosy is a public health problem and a challenge for endemic countries, especially in their border regions where there are intense migration flows. The study aimed to analyse the dynamics of leprosy, in order to identify areas of risk for the occurrence of the disease and disability and places where this health condition is worsening. Method: This ecological study considered the new cases of leprosy reported in the municipality of Foz do Iguaçu from 2003 to 2015. Spatial and spatial-temporal scan statistics were used to identify the risk areas for the occurrence of leprosy, as well as the Getis-Ord Gi and Getis-Ord Gi* methods. Areas of risk for disabilities were identified by the scan statistic and kernel density estimation. Results: A total of 840 cases were reported, of which 179 (21.3%) presented Grade 1 or 2 disabilities at the time of diagnosis. Leprosy risk areas were concentrated in the Southern, Eastern and Northeastern Health Districts of the municipality. The cases of Grade 2 disability were observed with higher intensity in regions characterized by high population density and poverty. Conclusion: The results of the study have revealed changes in the pattern of areas at risk of leprosy according to the investigated periods. In addition, it was possible to verify disabilities as a condition present in the investigated cases, or that may be related to the late diagnosis of the disease. In the areas of risk identified, patients have reported worse physical disability after diagnostic confirmation, or indicate inadequate clinical examination, reinforcing the need for structuring leprosy control services in a qualified manner.