Evaluation of leprosy surveillance system in the Amazon region, Brazil, 2001-2007.
OBJECTIVE
We evaluated the leprosy surveillance system in the Amazon region, Brazil, 2001-2007, using evaluation guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


RESULTS
We found that the leprosy surveillance system in the Amazon region is simple, presents good data quality and is representative in describing the sociodemographic profile and clinical classification of cases. The predictive value positive is high and its sensitivity is unknown. The grade two disability artificially increased in 2007 during the transition to a new version of the information system. The cases are reported, receive treatment and are discharged from the system as treatment completion in a timely fashion. Nevertheless, the dermatological and neurological examination introduces complexity to the system, which may account for the irregular data quality related to the evaluation of the disability degree, the system's lack of representativeness to describe mild neurological manifestations and low proportion of household contacts investigated.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite its limitations, the leprosy surveillance system proved to be useful. Recommendations for its improvement were issued based on the results found. More data on surveillance systems in endemic countries are needed to facilitate valid comparisons between country indicators.
Field Epidemiology Training Program, Secretariat of Health Surveillance, Brazilian Ministry of Health. felipe.freitas@saude.gov.br
Felipe Teixeira de Mello
FT
Freitas
Sebastião Alves
SA
de Sena Neto
Maria Aparecida de Faria
MA
Grossi
Eduardo Marques
EM
Macário
Aglaêr Alves
AA
da Nóbrega
D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002487:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D003625:Data Collection; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education; D006287:Health Planning Guidelines; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007918:Leprosy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015397:Program Evaluation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States