Caracterização da Hanseníase em Cajazeiras - PB, no período de 2007 a 2010.

Abstract

Leprosy is one of the oldest diseases known to mankind and continues to characterize a public health problem worldwide, especially in Brazil where the prevalence and incidence rates are high. It is a slowly progressive infection that affects skin and peripheral nerves, resulting in crippling deformities, caused by its agent, the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae. The municipality of Cajazeiras is configured as one of the most highly endemic for leprosy in Paraiba, and is therefore a priority for the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the actions of elimination. This study is aimed to characterize the leprosy in the municipality of Cajazeiras - PB in the period 2007 to 2010, but also to describe the socio-demographic profile of leprosy cases, check the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the disease and list the UnitsFamily Health - USF with the highest number of new leprosy cases during the study period. The research approach adopted document type, descriptive and exploratory, characterized by a quantitative approach. It was held at the Department of Health Cajazeiras, the Department of Epidemiological Surveillance. The population consisted of all leprosy cases reported during the study period, totaling 258 cases, available in the Information System for Notifiable Diseases - SINAN. The sample comprised 100% of the population. Data collection was conducted in June 2011, through consultation with the SINAN records containing socio-demographic data and access to data and program SINAN Tab Win, installed in the county Health Department. The results show that over the years there has been an increase in the number of cases, with higher incidence of females with the predominance of young-adult age, occupied with household activities, with low education and mulatto. With respect to the operational classification, there was a predominance of paucibacillary cases and the indeterminate form. All patients underwent one of the schemes of multidrug-MDT. The vast majority of patients had no episode of reaction. Most cases were detected by spontaneous demand. During the study period, the Family Health Unit of the Rising Sun was the one that showed the number of new cases of leprosy.The results showed that the goal of control and elimination of leprosy in Cajazeiras in 2010, was not achieved, since the numbers of cases have increased during this period. Through this study we can see that it is evident the importance of the sum of efforts trying, constantly raising strategies that provide subsidies, especially for professionals in the health of the city of Cajazeiras, for planning and implementing measures aiming at elimination of this endemic disease in the near future.