Epidemiological profile and spatial distribution of leprosy in paulo afonso, bahia perfil epidemiológico e distribuição espacial da hanseníase em paulo afonso, bahia perfil epidemiológico y distribucion espacial de la lepra en paulo afonso, bahía

Objectives: to analyze the epidemiological characteristics and distribution of new leprosy cases in the population of Paulo Afonso, Bahia, Brazil, between 2000 and 2015. Method: descriptive study with all new cases of leprosy reported at the Notifiable Diseases Information System. Sociodemographic and clinical variables were used and annual detection coefficients were calculated. Population estimates were obtained from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Results: most of the 1,069 new reported cases were female (57.2%), living in the urban area (92%), brown race/color (66.92%), elementary school (67.6%), over fifteen years of age (92.5%), tuberculoid clinical form (48.26%), paucibacillary (62.3%), degree of physical disability at diagnosis (45.93%) and cure (29.75%). Conclusion: the epidemiological profile of leprosy in Paulo Afonso is similar to the national one, with variations in leprosy detection coefficients between years and spatial analysis showing heterogeneous distribution, with a higher concentration of cases in peripheral neighborhoods.