title: Identification of urban leprosy clusters.
abstract: Overpopulation of urban areas results from constant migrations that cause disordered urban growth, constituting clusters defined as sets of people or activities concentrated in relatively small physical spaces that often involve precarious conditions. Aim. Using residential grouping, the aim was to identify possible clusters of individuals in São José do Rio Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil, who have or have had leprosy. Methods. A population-based, descriptive, ecological study using the MapInfo and CrimeStat techniques, geoprocessing, and space-time analysis evaluated the location of 425 people treated for leprosy between 1998 and 2010. Clusters were defined as concentrations of at least 8 people with leprosy; a distance of up to 300 meters between residences was adopted. Additionally, the year of starting treatment and the clinical forms of the disease were analyzed. Results. Ninety-eight (23.1%) of 425 geocoded cases were located within one of ten clusters identified in this study, and 129 cases (30.3%) were in the region of a second-order cluster, an area considered of high risk for the disease. Conclusion. This study identified ten clusters of leprosy cases in the city and identified an area of high risk for the appearance of new cases of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Architecture and Urbanism, University of São Paulo, Avenida Trabalhador São-Carlense, 400, Arnold Schimidt, 13566-590 São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Antonio Armani
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Paschoal
authors.forename: Vania Del'Arco
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Paschoal
authors.forename: Susilene Maria Tonelli
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Nardi
authors.forename: Patrícia Sammarco
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Rosa
authors.forename: Manuela Gallo y Sanches
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Ismael
authors.forename: Eduvaldo Paulo
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Sichieri
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D063426:Human Migration; D006801:Humans; D007918:Leprosy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014505:Urban Population