Domingos López is one of the last 30 who are confined in the named “abrigos” of Prata’s old colony. The staff who care of them
Domingos López is one of the last 30 who are confined in the named “abrigos” of Prata’s old colony. The staff who care of them are auxiliary and there are not qualified. The town council says that it has no financial capacity to keep them. In Brazil, leprosy remains a significant public health problem in endemic clusters of high transmission risk throughout the country. Migration is thought to be a factor associated with continued leprosy transmission, as migration has also been found to be associated with other Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). We analyzed the association between past five year migration and leprosy as part of a larger epidemiological study evaluating risk factors for infection among recently diagnosed leprosy cases (n = 340) and a matched clinically unapparent control group (n = 340) in the northeastern state of Maranhão. Among migrants with leprosy, (n = 80) migrated in the past five years, with (n = 55) of the control group. Past five year migration was significantly associated with leprosy, and remained significant after controlling for household and familial contact as potential confounders. Factors found to be associated with leprosy among past 5-year migrants included alcohol consumption, poverty, and household, family and other leprosy contact. Key patterns of movement emerged from the study that may aid future regional leprosy control efforts.
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