Dynamics of human visceral leishmaniasis in the municipality of Goiana – Brazil

Abstract

The Visceral leishmaniasis (LV) is widely distributed in the territory of Pernambuco, although data on the dynamics and epidemiological characteristics of the disease in some areas are still fragmented and incipient; this is the case of the municipality of Goiana, where cases of visceral leishmaniasis in dogs and in humans have been recorded. The present study aims to analyze the behavior of the disease in the municipality of Goiana – PE in the period from 2007 to 2015 through the use of epidemiological indicators. For this, we used statistical data regarding the notification of human cases of LV of the National System of Notifiable Diseases and the Department of Informatics of the Brazil Unified Health System with the purpose of calculating epidemiological indicators intended for the situational assessment of LV in the municipality. There were a total of 18 reports of human cases confirmed for LV, including 13 autochthonous. The calculations of the incidence and prevalence coefficients confirm the persistence and intensity of the disease in the population during the analyzed period. There were 10 confirmations per laboratory tests and 3 per clinical-epidemiological parameters. With regard to the evolution of the disease, 10 patients were cured and there was no death by leishmaniasis. It was observed that 84.6% of the autochthonous cases were of the masculine gender. It presented a higher frequency in adults between 20 and 59 years of age with 53.8% of the total cases. As regards the area of residence, 84.6% came from the rural area. Although the municipality of Goiana does not present significant epidemiological coefficients that indicate the occurrence of an epidemic, the presence of autochthonous human cases during the studied period, leaves an alert to the governmental authorities and health professionals.