BackgroundMore than 200,000 new cases of leprosy were reported by 105 countries in 2011. The disease is a public health problem in Brazil, particularly within high-burden pockets in the Amazon region where leprosy is hyperendemic among children.MethodologyWe applied geographic information systems and spatial analysis to determine the spatio-temporal pattern of leprosy cases in a hyperendemic municipality of the Brazilian Amazon region (Castanhal). Moreover, we performed active surveillance to collect clinical, epidemiological and serological data of the household contacts of people affected by leprosy and school children in the general population. The occurrence of subclinical infection and overt disease among the evaluated individuals was correlated with the spatio-temporal pattern of leprosy.Principal FindingsThe pattern of leprosy cases showed significant spatio-temporal heterogeneity (p<0.01). Considering 499 mapped cases, we found spatial clusters of high and low detection rates and spatial autocorrelation of individual cases at fine spatio-temporal scales. The relative risk of contracting leprosy in one specific cluster with a high detection rate is almost four times the risk in the areas of low detection rate (RR = 3.86; 95% CI = 2.26–6.59; p<0.0001). Eight new cases were detected among 302 evaluated household contacts: two living in areas of clusters of high detection rate and six in hyperendemic census tracts. Of 188 examined students, 134 (71.3%) lived in hyperendemic areas, 120 (63.8%) were dwelling less than 100 meters of at least one reported leprosy case, 125 (66.5%) showed immunological evidence (positive anti-PGL-I IgM titer) of subclinical infection, and 9 (4.8%) were diagnosed with leprosy (8 within 200 meters of a case living in the same area).Conclusions/SignificanceSpatial analysis provided a better understanding of the high rate of early childhood leprosy transmission in this region. These findings can be applied to guide leprosy control programs to target intervention to high risk areas.

BackgroundLeprosy remains an important public health problem in some specific high-burden pockets areas, including the Brazilian Amazon region, where it is hyperendemic among children.MethodsWe selected two elementary public schools located in areas most at risk (cluster of leprosy or hyperendemic census tract) to clinically evaluate their students. We also followed anti-PGL-I seropositive and seronegative individuals and households for 2 years to compare the incidence of leprosy in both groups.ResultsLeprosy was detected in 11 (8.2 %) of 134 school children in high risk areas. The difference in the prevalence was statistically significant (p < .05) compared to our previous findings in randomly selected schools (63/1592; 3.9 %). The 2-year follow-up results showed that 22.3 and 9.4 % of seropositive and seronegative individuals, respectively, developed leprosy (p = .027). The odds of developing overt disease in seropositive people were 2.7 times that of negative people (p < .01), indicating that a follow-up of 10 seropositives has a >90 % probability to detect at least one new case in 2 years. The odds of clinical leprosy were also higher in “positive houses” compared to “negative houses” (p < .05), indicating that a follow-up of ten people living in households with at least one seropositive dweller have a 85 % probability to detect at least one new case in 2 years.ConclusionsTargeted screening involving school-based surveillance planned using results obtained by spatial analysis and targeted household and individual continuous surveillance based on serologic data should be applied to increase the early detection of new leprosy cases.

Leprosy in children is

No abstract

IntroductionLow back pain (LBP) is one of the largest and most frequent public health problems worldwide. Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) is a frequently used non-pharmacological therapy for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. However, there is little high-quality scientific evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of PBMT in the treatment of patients with chronic LBP in the short, medium and long term. Therefore, the objective of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effects of PBMT in patients with chronic non-specific LBP in the short, medium and long term.Methods and analysesThis is a prospectively registered, two-arm randomised placebo-controlled trial with blinded patients, assessors and treatment providers. One hundred and forty-eight patients with chronic non-specific LBP will be recruited. Treatment sessions will be provided three times a week for 4 weeks (totaling 12 sessions) with patients receiving either placebo or active PBMT. For ethical reasons, all patients, regardless of treatment allocation, will also receive an information booklet based on ‘The Back Book’. Clinical outcomes will be measured at baseline, at the end of treatment, as well as 3, 6 and 12 months after randomisation. The primary outcomes will be pain intensity and disability measured after 12 sessions of treatment. The secondary outcomes will be pain intensity and disability measured at 3, 6 and 12 months after randomisation, in addition to specific disability and global perceived effect in all time points.Ethics and disseminationThe study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Universidade Cidade de São Paulo. The results will be disseminated through scientific publications and presentations at national and international scientific meetings.Trial registration number NCT03089424.

No abstract

Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) has been used in several musculoskeletal disorders to reduce pain, inflammation, and promoting tissue regeneration. The current evidence about the effects of PBMT on low back pain (LBP) is still conflicting. We aimed to evaluate the effects of PBMT against placebo on pain intensity and disability in patients with chronic nonspecific LBP. This was a prospectively registered, randomised placebo-controlled trial, with blinded patients, therapists, and assessors. The study was conducted on an outpatient physical therapy clinic in Brazil, between April 2017 and May 2019. A total of 148 patients with chronic nonspecific LBP were randomised to either active PBMT (n = 74) or placebo (n = 74). Patients from both groups received 12 treatment sessions, 3 times a week, for 4 weeks. Patients from both groups also received an educational booklet based on “The Back Book.” Clinical outcomes were measured at baseline and at follow-up appointments at 4 weeks, 3, 6, and 12 months after randomisation. The primary outcomes were pain intensity and disability measured at 4 weeks. We estimated the treatment effects using linear mixed models following the principles of intention-to-treat. There was no clinical important between-group differences in terms of pain intensity (mean difference = 0.01 point; 95% confidence interval = −0.94 to 0.96) and disability (mean difference = −0.63 points; 95% confidence interval = −2.23 to 0.97) at 4 weeks. Patients did not report any adverse events. Photobiomodulation therapy was not better than placebo to reduce pain and disability in patients with chronic nonspecific LBP.

No abstract