Socio-demographic profile of the American cutaneous leishmaniasis in Almenara – Minas Gerais

Abstract

Objective: To characterize the socio-demographic profile of the ATL in the municipality of Almenara - MG between 2016-2018, considering official notification data provided by the municipal surveillance sector. Methodology: a theoretical study based on bibliographic research from 2001 to 2016, concurrently with a practical study conducted in the city of Almenara - MG, from data analysis for the years 2016-2018. Results: When analyzing the occurrences as a whole, we can verify that in total 48 cases of the disease were registered. Where, the highest prevalence of cases occurred in rural areas, with 77.08% of notifications. Schooling draws attention because of the 48 cases recorded, 97.92% were either illiterate or had incomplete or ignored elementary school. In the present study, 77.08% of the reported cases were male patients. There are no reports in the literature indicating the relevance of these data. Conclusions: Being difficult to diagnose, leishmaniasis can be confused with other skin diseases, thus delaying the initiation of treatment and aggravating the disease. The data analyzed are worrying, because each year explored there was a considerable growth of the disease, where men were more affected than women, the higher prevalence occurred in rural areas and low education had a very relevant number.