Avaliação dos casos notificados de hanseníase no município de Governador Valadares-MG

Abstract

Leprosy is a neglected, infectious, chronic tropical disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, which can be transmitted through the inhalation of bacilli present in droplets from the nose and mouth of infected individuals, due to close and prolonged contact. The aim of this study was to carry out a dynamic diagnosis of leprosy cases in the municipality of Governador Valadares (GV) and compare with national and the state of Minas Gerais (MG) data. This is an observational, retrospective study, based on data obtained from SINAN, considering the period from January 2001 to December 2022. Aspects such as age group, race, gender, schooling, cases in pregnant women, origin, evolution of patients, operational classification, clinical form, degree of physical disability, occurrence of skin lesions and leprosy reactions, as well as the result of bacilloscopy. In total, 919,251 cases were reported in Brazil, 45,289 in Minas Gerais, and 3,796 in Governador Valadares, predominantly affecting the working-age population with a low level of schooling and of brown race. The most affected gender in BR and MG was male, with a predominance of the dimorphic/multibacillary form, while in GV it was female, with a predominance of the tuberculoid/paucibacillary form. The majority of cases progressed to cure in all three spheres, with GV having a significantly higher rate of treatment abandonment. The results show the endemic nature of the disease in the municipality and highlight the importance of monitoring cases to map the disease and establish public policies to control it.