Evidence of hidden leprosy in a supposedly low endemic area of Brazil.
Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz
; 112(12): 822-828, 2017 Dec.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29211243
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
Show that hidden endemic leprosy exists in a municipality of inner São Paulo state (Brazil) with active surveillance actions based on clinical and immunological evaluations.METHODS:
The study sample was composed by people randomly selected by a dermatologist during medical care in the public emergency department and by active surveillance carried out during two days at a mobile clinic. All subjects received a dermato-neurological examination and blood sampling to determine anti-PGL-I antibody titers by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).RESULTS:
From July to December 2015, 24 new cases of leprosy were diagnosed; all were classified as multibacillary (MB) leprosy, one with severe Lucio's phenomenon. Seventeen (75%) were found with grade-1 or 2 disability at the moment of diagnosis. Anti-PGL-I titer was positive in 31/133 (23.3%) individuals, only 6/24 (25%) were positive in newly diagnosed leprosy cases.CONCLUSIONS:
During the last ten years before this study, the average new case detection rate (NCDR) in this town was 2.62/100,000 population. After our work, the NCDR was raised to 42.8/100,000. These results indicate a very high number of hidden leprosy cases in this supposedly low endemic area of Brazil.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Hanseníase
/
Anticorpos Antibacterianos
/
Mycobacterium leprae
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Screening_studies
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
America do sul
/
Brasil
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Brasil