The importance of active surveillance as a strategy to control leprosy in endemic areas

• Autor(a) principal: Lima, Rosemary Soares Ker e
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Oliveira, Lorena Bruna Pereira de, Gama, Rafael Silva, Ferreira, José Antônio Guimarães, Grossi, Maria Aparecida de Faria, Fairley, Jessica K., Silva, Fernanda Gomes da, Fraga, Lucia Alves de Oliveira
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Hansenologia Internationalis (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.saude.sp.gov.br/hansenologia/article/view/34981
• topic: Hanseníase; Busca de Comunicante; Epidemiologia; Epidemiological Surveillance; Endemic Diseases

Contacts of leprosy cases present a higher risk of illness and, therefore it is essential to strengthen and expand actions to actively search for cases in primary health care, thus intensifying early diagnosis, timely treatment and other surveillance measures, and improve control and rehabilitation. In this setting, we aimed to perform the active search of new cases of leprosy in the rural area of Mantena, MG, and to characterize the socioeconomic and epidemiological situation related to the disease in the region. For this purpose, visits were made to the residents of the region with informative talks about the disease, and subsequently inhabitants were invited to participate in the research. A total of 292 individuals were examined from July 2016 to February 2017. Twenty-seven new cases were diagnosed, 22 of which were multibacillary. Grade 1 and 2 physical disabilities were identified in 74% of the new cases. Regarding socioeconomic variables, the majority of the cases had little schooling and low family income. In addition, all cases had had contact with the illness, at some point. We conclude that the active search was efficient to detect new leprosy cases in the population, and it contributed to the control of the disease, which is endemic in the region. In addition, active search is an important methodology, especially when the population involved has little schooling and thus less access to information.