EPIDEMIOLOGICAL PROFILE OF LEPROSY IN MARANHÃO AND IN THE IMPERATRIZ MICROREGION BETWEEN 2018 AND 2022

Abstract

Leprosy remains an important public health problem in Brazil, especially in states marked by high endemicity, persistent transmission, and barriers to timely diagnosis. In Maranhão, this scenario is particularly relevant, since the state remains among those with the highest disease burden in the country and includes priority municipalities for surveillance and control, such as Imperatriz. This study aimed to analyze the epidemiological profile of leprosy in the state of Maranhão and in the Imperatriz microregion from 2018 to 2022. This was a retrospective, descriptive, quantitative epidemiological study based on secondary data obtained from DATASUS/TabNet. Leprosy records from Maranhão and the Imperatriz microregion between 2018 and 2022 were included. Data were organized in electronic spreadsheets and analyzed using absolute frequencies and rates per 100,000 inhabitants. A predominance of cases among males was observed, with greater magnitude in adult and older age groups, as well as a relevant proportion of records with more than five lesions at diagnosis and expressive bacilloscopy positivity, findings compatible with a higher frequency of multibacillary forms. In the Imperatriz microregion, detection rates remained high in 2018 and 2019, declined in 2020, and partially recovered in the following years, a pattern possibly influenced by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to health services and case notification. It is concluded that leprosy continues to impose a high epidemiological burden in Maranhão and that the Imperatriz microregion plays a strategic role in this context, reinforcing the need to strengthen surveillance, expand early diagnosis, improve primary health care, and intensify contact tracing.