Leprosy in children under fifteen years in Brazil, 2011

The aim of this study is to describe the occurrence of Hansen’s disease in children under 15 years of age and to analyse the burden of disease in the same population in Brazil in 2011. This is a descriptive epidemiological study on the positive cases of Hansen’s disease in minors below 15 years of age notified in Brazil. Data was collected from the Information System on Disease Notification for Hansen’s disease cases, and the Brazilian Institute of Geographic Statistics for population data. The study’s results showed that 2420 minors with Hansen’s Disease in 2011 were distributed in 5565 cities, 692 cities registered the occurrence of 1-10 cases of the disease, a total of 1489 cases (61%); 35 cities showed 15 to 25 cases, 544 (22.5%); and eight cities notified 25 cases or more, totalling 87 cases (16%), therefore, about one third of the Hansen’s disease cases in minors under 15 years in Brazil in the year of 2011 are concentrated in 43 Brazilian cities.