Sousa George Jó Bezerra, Lages Daniele Dos Santos, Barbosa Patrícia Pereira Lima, Rocha Margarida Cristiana Napoleão, de Sena Neto Sebastião Alves, Brandão Jurema Guerrieri, Lana Francisco Carlos Félix, Alencar Carlos Henrique, Pereira Maria Lúcia Duarte, da Cruz Alda Maria, Gomes Ciro Martins
General Coordination of Surveillance of Leprosy and Diseases in Elimination, Department of Transmitted Diseases, Ministry of Health, SRTVN Quadra 701 Lote D, Edifício, PO 700, Brasília, 70719-040, Brazil.
Leprosy Coordination, Minas Gerais Health Secretary, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Sci Rep. 2025 Mar 21;15(1):9777. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-94600-2.
COVID-19 pandemics affected several health systems processes, including leprosy care. This study aimed to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the leprosy case detection rate in Brazil from 2017 to 2022. Data was retrieved from Sinan, a Brazilian notification system, and monthly leprosy detection rate in the overall population and in individuals under 15 years of age were the main outcomes. The series was interrupted in February 2020, when the COVID-19 public health emergency was declared in Brazil. The data were analysed via Prais-Winsten regression. Over the 72 months analysed, the COVID-19 pandemic led to an immediate 0.55 reduction (95% CI 0.48-0.62) in the overall leprosy detection rate, with a subsequent monthly increase of 1.01 (95% CI 1.00-1.02). For the population under 15 years of age, the pandemic caused an immediate 0.48 reduction (95% CI 0.40-0.57), followed by a monthly increase of 1.01 (95% CI 1.01-1.02) after the onset of the pandemic. Subnational analysis revealed that most federative units followed the trend for the overall detection rate, but high heterogeneity was observed regarding individuals under 15 years of age. Therefore, it is urgent to target strategies to minimize delayed diagnosis and long-term consequences of leprosy.
新冠疫情影响了多个卫生系统流程，包括麻风病防治。本研究旨在评估2017年至2022年新冠疫情对巴西麻风病病例发现率的影响。数据取自巴西的疾病通报系统Sinan，主要结果是总体人群以及15岁以下人群的月度麻风病发现率。该序列在2020年2月被打断，当时巴西宣布进入新冠公共卫生紧急状态。数据通过普赖斯-温斯坦回归进行分析。在分析的72个月中，新冠疫情导致总体麻风病发现率立即下降0.55（95%置信区间0.48 - 0.62），随后每月上升1.01（95%置信区间1.00 - 1.02）。对于15岁以下人群，疫情导致立即下降0.48（95%置信区间0.40 - 0.57），疫情爆发后每月上升1.01（95%置信区间1.01 - 1.02）。国家以下层面的分析显示，大多数联邦单位遵循总体发现率的趋势，但15岁以下人群存在高度异质性。因此，迫切需要制定策略，以尽量减少麻风病的延迟诊断和长期后果。
