Epidemiological, temporal and spatial dynamics of leprosy in a municipality in northeastern Brazil (2008-2017): an ecological study

Abstract

Introduction: Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae.This study aimed to analyze the epidemiological, temporal, and spatial dynamics ofleprosy in a municipality in northeastern Brazil. Methods: This is an ecological study on new leprosy cases in the population of Arapiraca (Alagoas, Northeast Region, Brazil), from 2008 to 2017. Data extracted from a national database were analyzed forepidemiological indicators, factors associated with physical disabilities, and spatialanalysis in the neighborhoods of Arapiraca. Results: A total of 292 new cases of leprosy were recorded, particularly occurring among the following groups: women, the age group of 46-59 years, brown-skinned individuals, people with less than eight years of schooling, and urban residents; the new cases were also predominantly the tuberculoid form and were of the paucibacillary classification of the disease. Almost 1/3 of the people had some degree of physical disability, which was mainly associated with the group 60 years of age and older, black ethnicity, and the multibacillary clinical form of leprosy. The joinpoint regression showed a stationary temporal behavior of indicators. There was a heterogeneous spatial distribution with active transmission areas, especially in the neighborhoods Primavera, Baixão, Ouro Preto, and downtown. Conclusions: The epidemiological indicators revealed complexity in the process of leprosy development. These spatial and temporal studies are relevant to help in the planning, monitoring, and guidance of interventions in the municipality. The spatial analysis showed heterogeneous distribution in the analyzed neighborhoods.

Epidemiological characteristics of leprosy from 2000 to 2019 in a state with low endemicity in southern Brazil

“… 13 , 14 A study was carried out in Rwanda, Central Africa, with a smaller number of cases (77 patients), which showed that 75% of the patients were male. 15 However, other authors found a predominance of females in their analysis, 16 , 17 , 18 indicating that there is sex variation according to time and place. Regarding age groups, there was a prevalence of cases between 30 and 60 years (59.2% of cases), which constitute the economically active age groups.…”

Mulheres no pós-alta de hanseníase: aspectos clínicos, sociodemográficos e reprodutivos

“…Um estudo realizado em Arapiraca-AL, os autores apresentaram 201 (68,8%) dos participantes como morenos e apenas 24 (8,2%) como negros (Albuquerque et al, 2020). Neste quesito, também é possível verificar a semelhança com outro estudo, e traz a reflexão de que esta doença acomete os grupos populacionais mais vulneráveis, e isso é visto como uma prioridade para o desenvolvimento de ações em saúde que visem reduzir as disparidades étnico-raciais nas morbidades por doenças transmissíveis dentro da Política Nacional de Saúde Integral da População Negra (Brasil, 2017a).…”

Determining target populations for leprosy prophylactic interventions: a hotspot analysis in Indonesia

“…The Global Moran’s I statistic and Local Moran statistic (Local Index of Spatial Association [LISA]) have been used at global and local level to highlight areas that are at the highest risk of leprosy occurrence [ 14 , 15 ], and low socioeconomic level [ 16 ]. These statistics calculate the strength of spatial autocorrelation and dependence of indicators such as the annual new detection rate (NCDR), the detection rate of children below 15 years, the detection rate of disability grade 2 (DG2) and socioeconomic indicators.…”