Analysis of the historical series from 2001 to 2009 of the leprosy cases in people under 15 years-old, in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil

Abstract

We investigated, through a retrospective research, leprosy cases in people under 15 years of age, in Rio de Janeiro state, from 2001 up to 2009, based in the data available in “Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação” (Information System for Disease Notification). Detection rate in this age turned from levels “very high” (up to 2004) into “high”, in a slow decreasing curve subsequently. The proportion of leprosy in children in relation to the total of cases remained in 6.6% from 2005 to 2007, reducing to lower levels in 2008 and 2009. Paucibacilar forms predominated in this age range throughout the studied period. When we studied the control activities that lead to a lesser degree of neural damage, like the disability grade at diagnosis and at cure, we observed regular results. The evaluation at diagnosis in people less than 15 years of age presents results below those findings in the total of new leprosy cases of the state; the evaluation at cure was precarious until 2007, reaching better indices in 2008 and 2009, close to the ones recommended by the Health Ministeriat. The coefficients of the studied group generally follow the tendency to fall observed in the coefficients of the total of leprosy cases in Rio de Janeiro State, and the improvement of the indices reflects the success of the strategies employed to the control of leprosy and the attention to the patients disabilities.