Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis of leprosy in Brazil: An ecological and population-based study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has seriously affected global health, resulting in the suspension of many regular health services, making the diagnosis of other infections difficult. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis of leprosy in Brazil during the year 2020.

Methods

We evaluated the monthly incidence of leprosy and calculated the percentage change to verify whether there was an increase or decrease in the number of leprosy cases in 2020, considering the monthly average of cases over the previous 5 years. We used interrupted time series analysis to assess the trend in the diagnosis of leprosy before and after the start of COVID-19 in Brazil and prepared spatial distribution maps, considering the percentage v

SUBMITTER: da Paz WS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8759948 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature