02182nas a2200265   4500000000100000008004100001260004600042653001400088653002200102653001200124653002100136653001800157100001500175700001300190700001500203700001100218700001200229700001300241700000800254245004200262300001300304490000700317520157800324022001401902       2012                            d  c01/2012bBlackwell Publishing LtdaOxford10aVenezuela10aLeprosy situation10aleprosy10aElimination goal10aCojedes State1 aAranzazu N1 aParra JJ1 aCardenas M1 aRada E1 aZerpa O1 aRivera T1 aal 00aCojedes: a leprosy hyperendemic state  a186–940 v513 aBackground  Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease produced by Mycobacterium leprae. In 1997 Venezuela reached the goal of elimination of leprosy as a public health problem (according to the World Health Organization a prevalence rate of ≤1/10,000 inhabitants), but five states still had prevalence rates over that goal. For this study we selected Cojedes State, where prevalence rates remain over the elimination goal.

Objective  Evaluate the real leprosy situation in high-prevalence areas of Cojedes State.

Materials and methods  Seven communities of Cojedes State were selected because they had the highest historic prevalence, as well as the highest prevalence in the year to be studied (1997).

Results  A rank correlation using Spearman’s test comparing historical prevalence rates (1946–1996) and detection rates (1998–2004) gave a statistically significant P < 0.05 value. Diagnosed leprosy cases were as follows: age: 3.2% under 15 years old; sex: male/female rates between 60% and 91.66% males. The highest number of cases were paucibacillary forms: indeterminate leprosy (33.07%) and borderline tuberculoid leprosy (32.28%); tuberculoid leprosy (7.00%); and multibacillary cases (lepromatous leprosy, LL) were only 2.36%. Bacteriologically, 18.52 patients were M. leprae positive. At the moment of diagnosis, 96.6% showed no disabilities, 3.4% showed grade I disabilities, and there were no grade II or III disabilities.

Conclusion  This study confirms that several communities in Cojedes State have extremely high leprosy rates.
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