Epidemiological analysis of leprosy in the caririense region in pand emic times of

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the impact of Covid 19 on the epidemiology of leprosy. Methods: This was a descriptive epidemiological study, searching for secondary data in the database SINAN, made available in DATASUS/TABNET and performed a simple descriptive statistical analysis with the data found in the literature. Results: Lower numbers of diagnosis and notifications were found between the years 2017 to 2021, mainly between the last years of the study, 2019, 2020 and 2021, the exact years where the Covid-19 pandemic took hold and intensified, among the cities studied, Juazeiro do Norte was the most relevant, being the most affected population, mostly men in middle age, of mixed race with low education. The multibacillary forms were more frequent, revealing a more intense transmissibility of the disease, so preventive actions for leprosy should be directed to this public. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the health system, both for management, health professionals and the quality of service provided to individuals, whether in primary, secondary or tertiary care. As a result, in 2021 the reported cases were 51 cases, 67 cases less than in 2017.