Análise temporal da hanseníase em menores de 15 anos (2001 a 2015) no estado de Sergipe

Abstract

Leprosy is an infectious disease with an insidious evolution caused by the Mycobacterium leprae bacillus. This infection presents variable clinical forms, from single lesions to disseminated forms. The occurrence of this infection in the infantile group is a relevant indicator for the identification of endemic areas because the infection and manifestation of the disease generally requires an early and prolonged exposure to the bacillus. In this retrospective epidemiological study of a time series, epidemiological data regarding leprosy infection in children under 15 years of age in the state of Sergipe were obtained through the National System of Notifiable Diseases database and used to analyze trends in leprosy detection rates in under 15 years of age in the state of Sergipe from 2001 to 2015, besides identifying in this population the frequency of degrees of disability at the time of diagnosis and discharge of treatment. With the aid of an Excel spreadsheet and SPSS 22 software, the data were analyzed through linear regression with centralization of the variable year, test of adherence and descriptive statistics. At the end of the study, it was possible to observe that the cases in this group represent 7.36% of the notifications. There has been a tendency to reduce detection rates over time and that most of the cases have had no lesions at the time of diagnosis. However, many patients are not adequately assessed for the degree of disability.