Leprosy in Brazil in the 21st century: analysis of epidemiological and operational indicators using inflection point regression

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the trend of epidemiological and operational indicators of leprosy in Brazil, from 2001 to 2017. This was a time series study involving nine indicators. The inflection point regression model was used. Decreasing trends were observed for the following: general detection (−4.8%), children under 15 (−3.7%), prevalence (−7.0%), and grade 2/million inhabitants (−3.5%). The proportion of individuals with grade 2 disability showed an upward trend (2.0%) from 2001 as well as contacts examined from 2003 (5.0%). The proportions of cure and of individuals with a degree of disability assessed at the time of the diagnosis and the cure showed a stationary behavior. Although advances are noted, there are still challenges to be overcome.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis of leprosy in Brazil: An ecological and population-based study

“…15 Importantly, despite being the 12th largest economy in the world (US$ 1.434 trillion in 2021), Brazil has serious social inequalities and it is endemic for several NTDs, such as Leishmaniasis, 16 Chagas Disease, 17 Schistosomiasis 18 , 19 and Leprosy. 20 , 21 …”

High‐risk transmission clusters of leprosy in an endemic area in the Northeastern Brazil: A retrospective spatiotemporal modelling (2001–2019)

“…The detection rate for new cases was 14.03/100,000 inhabitants in 2001 and 10.78/100,000 in 2019. Despite the reduction, Alagoas is still classified as highly endemic for leprosy (10.0 to 19.99 new cases/100,000 inhabitants) [17]. We observed a higher percentage among women (51.96%), in those ≥15 years old (93.21%), and in blacks and browns (71.4%) (Table 1).…”

“…As a result, public policies were adopted to improve outpatient diagnosis, such as the promotion of campaigns throughout the nation, and the treatment of cases with the use of MDT [7,22,29,30]. Remarkably, there was a reduction in the absolute number of cases and patients with physical disabilities [7,17,30]. Despite that, to date, Brazil remains one of the countries with the highest number of leprosy cases in the world [6].…”

“…Leprosy has heterogeneous spatial dynamics among the states and regions of Brazil [7,[15][16][17], which can be understood using spatial analysis techniques from the Geographic Information System (GIS) to assist health services [7,8,15,[18][19][20]. Monitoring evolution over time and identifying highrisk clusters allows the development of public health policies aimed at helping in the control of leprosy [8,15,20].…”

Evaluation of proposed cranial and maxillary bone alteration parameters in persons affected by Hansen’s disease

“…The degree of bone alteration correlates with the form of HD, ranging from limited or undetectable changes in the tuberculoid form to severe changes at the ‘lepromatous’ pole [ 9 ]. Although severe bone changes as a consequence of HD are less prevalent than in the pre-treatment era and population incidence of new cases presenting with disabilities has declined in many countries [ 10 , 11 ], disabilities related to Hansen’s disease in the age of modern medicine are not uncommon [ 12 , 13 ], affecting a relatively constant or increasing proportion of new cases [ 10 , 14 ]. Endemic and non-endemic countries also have elderly former and current HD patients who are affected by HD-related disabilities [ 15 , 16 ].…”