HANSEN’S DISEASE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL PROFILE CHARACTERIZATION IN CAJAZEIRAS REGION IN THE STATE OF PARAÍBA

Hansen’s Disease is a chronic, infectious and slowly evolving disease caused by the etiologic agent Mycobacterium leprae, or Hansen's bacillus. The contagion is by secretions of the upper airways and droplets of saliva. Although it is a basically cutaneous disease, it can also affect peripheral nerves, eyes and eventually other organs. Its presentation is manifested in four clinical forms: indeterminate, tuberculoid, borderline or dimorphic and virchowian. And the operational classification for therapeutic purposes consists of two groups: paucibacillary and multibacillary. Objective: To characterize the epidemiological profile of leprosy cases in Cajazeiras - PB. This is a quantitative study, exploratory and descriptive, based on the collection of secondary data contained in the leprosy notification sheets of the Aging and Notification Information System (SINAN), in the period from 2012 to 2016. The work was carried out with the data obtained in the macro-region of Cajazeiras, which gathers about fourteen municipalities. A total of 468 cases of leprosy were reported in the period from 2012 to 2016. Regarding the sociodemographic characteristics, it was identified that the majority are male, brown, age group between 30 and 39 years old and schooling with incomplete elementary school. In relation to the clinical characterization of leprosy, the data show a predominance of the dimorphic form and multibacillary operational classification. It is concluded that it is important to reorganize the work process in order to integrate the control actions to the primary care services, especially in the Family Health Teams, with emphasis on the collective approach.