Epidemiological and space aspects of the schools of the National Leprosy Campaign: the case of Sobral – Ceará, Brazil
Authors: do Amaral Vitória Ferreira , Linhares Maria Socorro Carneiro , Neto Francisco Rosemiro Guimarães Ximene , Flor Sandra Maria Carneiro , Sansigolo Kerr Ligia Regina Franco , Dias Luíza Jocymara Lima Freire , Cunha Isabel Cristina Kowal Olm , Freire Neyson Pinheiro , da Silva Manoel Carlos Neri , Ribeiro Marcos Aguiar , Albuquerque Izabelle Mont’Alverne Napoleão , Cavalcante Ana Suelen Pedroza 
Published: June 2019

The objective of this study is to describe the epidemiological and spatial aspects of leprosy of the schoolchildren participating in the National Leprosy Campaign in the municipality of Sobral, Ceará, in the year 2016. This is a cross-sectional epidemiological study with spatial analysis of secondary data obtained in the records instruments used in the Campaign (self-image files), with public school schoolchildren from five to fourteen years old. From this population a sample was taken to be studied from the calculation of a standard error limit of 5%, confidence level of 99.99% and an expected frequency of 50%, resulting in 1,216 students, corresponding to 19.7% of a total of 6,169 schoolchildren who returned the completed self-indexed records. A descriptive analysis was performed for all the variables of interest of the study object and for the spatial analysis the QGIS program 2.18 was used. Of the 1,216 schoolchildren participating in the study, 31.7% had body spots and 18.1% (220/1126) of the total number of schoolchildren had leprosy cases in the study. Of the 1,216 students in the study, 31.7% (386/1). Among the schoolchildren with spots on the body, 6.2% (75/1126) reported having cases of leprosy in the family, 59.3% (195/329) are birthmarks, 20.7% Among children with spots suspected of leprosy (39.2%, 129/329), they were found to be dormant (9.3%) (31/329) and 10.6% (35/329) The strategies for the screening of new suspected leprosy cases developed through campaigns helped to mobilize around the epidemiological situation of leprosy, facilitating the dissemination of information to leprosy patients. the population on the recognition of signs and symptoms, treatment and cure of leprosy.

AUTHOR SUMMARY

Leprosy is an infectious and contagious, chronic disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae), which has high infectivity and low pathogenicity. Brazil is part of the group of three countries responsible for 80.2% of all new cases registered in the world in 2017 and in the Region of the Americas contributed with 92.3% of new cases. The National Leprosy Campaign aims to find new cases of leprosy in children 5 (five) to 14 years of age. Sobral, a city of Ceará, with high disease burden, has been joining the campaign every year since 2013. This study describes the epidemiological and spatial aspects of leprosy of students participating in the National Leprosy Campaign in the municipality of Sobral, Ceará, in 2016. Strategies for screening new suspected leprosy cases developed through Campaigns, in addition to contributing to the identification of new cases in the community, promote a mobilization around the epidemiological disease situation and dissemination of information to the population on the recognition of signs and symptoms, treatment and cure of leprosy.