Clinical-epidemiological behavior of Hansen’s disease in patients treated at the Francisco Soto Calderon National Dermatology Center

Abstract

To know the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of Hansen’s disease is important for its control, along with the commitment of different institutions and governments to eradicate this disease. The aim of the study was to describe the clinical-epidemiological behavior of Hansen’s disease in patients who attended the National Dermatology Center "Francisco Soto Calderon" during 2018-2022. The study is a descriptive case series, with a cross-sectional and quantitative approach, where 38 patients diagnosed with Hansen's disease were included. The source of information was secondary, so, a data collection form was filled out from the patients' medical records. The majority of cases occurred in ages over 34 years (68.4%), with a slight predominance of the male sex at 55.30%. Regarding to the risk factors for infection, overcrowding was present in 84%, this being a means of transmission in the family environment, most of the patients come from rural areas with 55.30%. The most frequent clinical diagnosis was multibacillary (81.6%). In relation to the clinical forms, tuberculoid leprosy with dimorphic leprosy predominated (66%), the aspects of the lesions that predominated were infiltrations in 28.9%, also finding a statistically significant association between the clinical diagnosis and the therapeutic management p =0.002. Finally, the scheme used was multibacillary treatment with 95% and 100% cure success for patients with Hansen's disease.

Key words: clinical, epidemiology, Hansen’s disease, leprosy.