Leprosy in minors under 15: incidence and characteristics of reported cases in the State of Pará in the period 2005 to 2013

Objective: To describe the incidence and characteristics of leprosy in children under 15 years of age of the cases reported in the State of Pará, Brazil from 2005 to 2013. Method: The descriptive study, with a quantitative approach, was carried out based on data from the Acute Notification Information System, provided by the State Secretariat of Public Health. In the period studied, 4,251 cases of leprosy were reported in the state of Pará in children under 15 years of age, with an annual average of 472.3 cases/year. Results: There was a 15% decrease in the incidence of leprosy in the state, from 24% new cases/100 000 in 2005 to 20.4% new cases/100 000 in 2013. The year with the highest incidence of the disease was 2005 (24/100,000 inhabitants) and the year with the lowest incidence was 2010 (17.1/100,000 inhabitants); most cases were observed among men (52.2%) and individuals with brown skin color (68.9%), living in urban areas (72%), with indeterminate form (35.5%), followed by dimorph (30.1%), with most cases with negative smear (10.3%), zero degree of physical disability (79.5%) and with the appearance of single lesions (44.9%). 2,552 patients (60%) were classified as paucibacillary. Most of the investigated cases did not have nerves compromised by the disease (87.5%). Despite the decrease between the period studied, the incidence of leprosy in children under 15 in the state of Pará is still considered very high. Conclusion: It is necessary to decentralize the care of the disease carrier by implementing prevention activities (primary, secondary and tertiary) and control, training of family health strategy teams and more efficient coverage of health services.