Clinical-epidemiological behavior of Leprosy in Granma during the period January-December 2022 (Original)

Abstract

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that mainly affects the skin, peripheral nerves, upper respiratory mucosa and eyes, as well as other structures. Granma in 2022 was one of the provinces with the highest number of cases contributed to the incidence of the country with 25 cases, equalled in first place with Santiago de Cuba, with the same number of cases. For this reason, this study aims to evaluate the behavior of the epidemiological clinical variables of leprosy in the province of Granma in 2022, for which a longitudinal and retrospective descriptive study is performed characterizing the behavior of the epidemiological clinical variables of the disease. The universe consists of 25 patients who presented the disease in 2022; the sample coincided with the universe. The primary source is the database of the Provincial Centre for Epidemiological Hygiene and Microbiology. The main results obtained were that the male sex is the most affected, at the ages of 55 years and older; the municipalities with the highest incidence are Manzanillo, Bayamo and Yara, with dimorfos and lepromatosos being the most diagnosed; it predominated as a delay time for diagnosis, from one to five months. The provinces of Ciego de Ávila, Havana and Santiago de Cuba were possible sources of infection for our patients, in addition to the population at risk, and the regular housing conditions were significant.