Leprosy among children and adolescents under 15 years-old in a city of Legal Amazon, Brazil.

Abstract

Background and objectives: Leprosy is yet an important infectious disease in Brazil. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of leprosy among children and adolescents in a countryside city from Legal Amazon region.

Results: there was a high frequency of Hansen's disease among children from 5 to 9 years-old, predominantly females, with multibacillary form, and dimorphous types.

Conclusion: due to late diagnosis and higher frequency of treatment abandonment leprosy is a serious public health problem among children and adolescents is this small city.