The context of leprosy in Brazil-Paraguay border.

In Brazil, leprosy is endemic in three regions: the North, Northeast, and Mid-West. Counties with contiguous binational urban areas are characterized by a constant fow of people, goods, and services, which facilitates the transmission of diseases and influences the epidemiological profile of leprosy. The purpose of this study was to examine territorial differences in relation to the incidence of leprosy, focusing on border counties with contiguous binational urban areas or otherwise. Each county was taken as an information unit for leprosy cases reported during 2001-2011, based on data from original notification records of the state's Department of Health. In counties with contiguous binational urban areas detection rates showed tendency to increase, Virchowian (lepromatous) disease and disability grade II predominated when compared with Groups II and III: 0.64 and 0.54/100,000 inhabitants for Virchowian desease and 0.14 and 0.27/100,000 inhabitants for disability grade II respectively, and were associated with higher transmission rates. The findings demonstrate the role of border areas in maintaining the endemicity of leprosy.