Characteristics of known leprosy contact in a high endemic area in Brazil.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The annual number of new cases of leprosy has not declined in Brazil over the last 15 years, indicating that transmission continues at the same level. To study transmission, we interviewed leprosy patients about their known leprosy contact (KLC). METHODS: Clinical and demographic data were collected from 506 leprosy patients in four health units in the Metropolitan Region of Vitria, State of Espírito Santo, Brazil. SPSS 9.0 was used as a database and analysis. RESULTS: Two hundred and twenty-six (44.7%) of 506 leprosy patients reported KLC, 136 (60.2%) of 226 were parents. Among 226, the mean of KLC was 1.89 (SD +/- 1.65), and 61.3% had one KLC. KLC as a household contact was reported by 92 (40.7%) out of 226, and 121 (53.5%) had no household contact. KLC were most frequently sisters and brothers in the PB cases, and sons/daughters in MB cases. Mothers occurred more frequently as a KLC than fathers. From the leprosy patients that had reported household contacts, 73% said that at the onset of their skin lesions, the KLCs were either undergoing were not yet released from treatment (RFT), and 23.45% had not begun the treatment yet. Altogether, 62.3% of 226 cases had daily contact with the KLC. CONCLUSION: In Brazil, household contacts, including the family members (mothers, sisters and brothers), as well as the social contact need to be investigated by the control programs.

Delay in the diagnosis of leprosy in the Metropolitan Region of Vitória, Brazil.

This paper reports on the time between the onset of the first lesion and diagnosis, defined as delay, and is based on results obtained by interviewers from a survey carried out amongst 450 leprosy patients in a leprosy endemic area in the Metropolitan Region of Vitória (MRV), state of Espirito Santo, Brazil. The mean age at diagnosis in all cases was 41.47 years and the median was 42.5 years. The mean age at diagnosis in MB (42.9 years) was greater than in PB (38.5 years). The mean of the delay in all cases was 25.25 months, median 12 months and range 0-360 months. The mean of the delay in MB (27.2 months) was greater than in PB (21.3 months). The results of this study suggest that although the delay in leprosy diagnosis in this region of Brazil was not too long when it was compared with other studies in endemic countries, it is still a problem: 65.4% of patients were diagnosed after a delay of 6 months. The Leprosy Control Programme in this state needs more effective health education in order to reduce the current period of delay before diagnosis.