Research for Acid-fast Bacilli as a Diagnostic Aid of Leprosy at the Cristalina, Goiás, Brazil.

Introduction: Leprosy is a public health problem with Brazil ranking the second in total number of cases, only behind India. Leprosy is a disease not eradicated in Brazil. This study is aimed to analyze the data from bacilloscopy as a tool to aid in the diagnosis of leprosy in Cristalina-Goiás, Brazil.

Methods:A total of 266 new suspect cases of leprosy were analysedthrough bacilloscopy between 2005 to 2008. Bacilloscopy of skin scrapings was done in suspected cases after the Ziehl-Neelsen coloring. The bacterial index and Ridley-Jopling scale was performed.

Results and discussion: The disease is not homogeneous over the territory of Brazil, with regions showing tendencies in control. The detection rates of new cases remained elevated in the North, Midwest, and Northeast. The detection frequency by bacilloscopy in Cristalina was low (14.66%) for multibacillar cases.

Conclusions: Bacilloscopy was important in the diagnosis and indirectly in the clinical classification of different cases, however, the county health department should implement new methods of diagnosis in Cristalina, Goiás, Brazil.