Trend of the epidemiological and operational situation of leprosy in the state of Minas Gerais (2008 - 2018)

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the trend of the epidemiological and operational situation of leprosy in the state of Minas Gerais, from 2008 to 2018. Methods: Ecological study of time series. The annual rate of detection of new leprosy cases and proportion of examined contacts of new leprosy cases were used. The data were extracted from the informatics department of the Brazilian Unified Health System, made available by the Ministry of Health through access to its website. Prais-Winsten generalized linear analysis was used for trend analysis. Results: There were 14.991 leprosy cases in the period. The state of Minas Gerais showed a decreasing trend (-6.74) for general detection and an increasing trend (3.38) for the proportion of contacts examined. Conclusion: Despite the favorable behavior of the analyzed indicators, the state still maintains average endemicity for the disease and a regular capacity of the services to carry out contact surveillance.