[Leprosy: the reality for adolescents].

Leprosy is a contagious disease of a great disabling potential and the teenagers, living a changing phase of their lives, can be negatively influenced by the disease sequelae. This study aims to characterize the teenagers with leprosy disease according to social-demographic aspects, to proceed epidemic-operational analysis of leprosy disease; check teenagers' knowledge about leprosy disease and the way they reacted after they found out they had the disease; identify the changes occurred in the teenager's life and the difficulties after they had the disease. It is an explorative and descriptive research which involved 31 teenagers who are carriers of the leprosy disease and are assisted by the Family Health Strategy, in Sobral munipality-Ceará. The results point out the need of an integral and continuous attendance to the teenager with leprosy disease, avoiding that this disease brings significant changes to his/her life that can difficult to the construction of his/her new identity.