INTRODUCTION: Leprosy is considered to be a major public health problem in developing countries. It is estimated that notifications are issued only in relation to 1/3 of the patients and that, among these patients, many undergo irregular treatment or drop out, thus increasing the impact of the disease. The objective this paper was to describe the epidemiological profile of the population with a diagnosis of leprosy in the municipality of Uberaba, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, between 2000 and 2006.
METHODS: This was a retrospective study using data from notifications of leprosy cases in the Notifiable Disease Information System of the Brazilian Ministry of Health.
RESULTS: There were 455 recorded cases of leprosy, and 55.4% of these were among males. The most affected age group was 34 to 49 years (31.4%), while nine cases of leprosy (2%) were found in children under the age of 15 years. The commonest clinical form was the borderline type (69.1%) and the operational class was multibacillary (87%). These findings are a matter of concern, considering that the age group that is most economically active is potentially the principal group spreading the disease.
CONCLUSIONS: The finding that 87% of the cases were multibacillary indicates that the diagnoses were late. It is therefore necessary to decentralize the leprosy care services and train more professionals to enable earlier diagnosis and treatment.
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