@article{23829,
  keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Brazil, Child, Child, Preschool, Cluster Analysis, Contact Tracing, Endemic Diseases, Epidemiological Monitoring, Female, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, leprosy, Male, Middle Aged, Mycobacterium leprae, Young Adult},
  author = {Moura ML N and Dupnik K and Sampaio G and N{\'o}brega PF C and Jeronimo AK and Nascimento-Filho J and Miranda Dantas R and Queiroz JW and Barbosa JD and Dias G and Jeronimo S and Souza MC F and Nobre M},
  title = {Active surveillance of Hansen{\textquoteright}s Disease (leprosy): importance for case finding among extra-domiciliary contacts.},
  abstract = {<p>Hansen{\textquoteright}s disease (leprosy) remains an important health problem in Brazil, where 34,894 new cases were diagnosed in 2010, corresponding to 15.3\% of the world{\textquoteright}s new cases detected in that year. The purpose of this study was to use home visits as a tool for surveillance of Hansen{\textquoteright}s disease in a hyperendemic area in Brazil. A total of 258 residences were visited with 719 individuals examined. Of these, 82 individuals had had a previous history of Hansen{\textquoteright}s disease, 209 were their household contacts and 428 lived in neighboring residences. Fifteen new Hansen{\textquoteright}s disease cases were confirmed, yielding a detection rate of 2.0\% of people examined. There was no difference in the detection rate between household and neighbor contacts (p = 0.615). The two groups had the same background in relation to education (p = 0.510), household income (p = 0.582), and the number of people living in the residence (p = 0.188). Spatial analysis showed clustering of newly diagnosed cases and association with residential coordinates of previously diagnosed multibacillary cases. Active case finding is an important tool for Hansen{\textquoteright}s disease control in hyperendemic areas, enabling earlier diagnosis, treatment, decrease in disability from Hansen{\textquoteright}s disease and potentially less spread of Mycobacterium leprae.</p>},
  year = {2013},
  journal = {PLoS neglected tropical diseases},
  volume = {7},
  pages = {e2093},
  month = {2013},
  issn = {1935-2735},
  url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3597486/pdf/pntd.0002093.pdf},
  doi = {10.1371/journal.pntd.0002093},
  language = {eng},
}