Resumen

MAGALHAES, Maria da Conceição Cavalcanti  y  ROJAS, Luisa Iñiguez. Spatial differentiation of leprosy in Brazil. Epidemiol. Serv. Saúde [online]. 2007, vol.16, n.2, pp.75-84. ISSN 1679-4974.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5123/S1679-49742007000200002.

Hansen disease is a public health problem in Brazil and its plan of elimination is a relevant national action. The prevalence reduction since 1991 is not accompanied by decreased detection of new cases. According to an international acknowledgement about focal behavior of Hansen disease, its restricted distribution of space, which coincides with whole social premises for its production in Brazil. The spatiality of leprosy has been studied punctually, in some states and municipal districts, without systemization. The Notifying Diseases Information System (Sinan), recently implemented by the Ministry of Health, allows detailed explorations of the disease. This essay studies the geography of the Hansen disease in Brazil, starting from a summary of states and macro-regional distribution, focused in municipal distribution, in the period of 1998 to 2002. A geographical system of information was conformed to make possible the analysis of the spatial difference of the coefficients of general detection and in people under 15 years old, and by clinical form, fundamental indicators in the examination of the endemic evolution, as well as the identification of the critical spaces of production of the disease. The results suggest the expansion of the local focus of hansen disease in the North, Middle-West and North-East Regions, associated with the agricultural colonization in Legal Amazon and the development of some cities and metropolitan areas.

Palabras clave : Hansen disease; detection tax; spatial differentiation; Brazil.

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