Spatial analysis of leptospirosis in Brazil

ABSTRACT

Leptospirosis is a worldwide public health problem. In Brazil, leptospirosis is a disease of compulsory notification and is related to areas with precarious sanitary conditions. A retrospective ecological study was conducted to observe the spatial and temporal distribution of confirmed cases of leptospirosis on national scale in the period between 2007 and 2017. The spatialization of leptospirosis used geoprocessing techniques by analysis of point patterns and by Kernel density maps. The results showed that within the analyzed period, 42,310 confirmed cases of Leptospirosis were recorded in the country, with an annual average of 3,846 cases and prevalence of 1.9 per 100,000 inhabitants. The regions with the most prevalent cases are the South and the North. The southeast presented a prevalence rate lower than the national rate due to the high demographic density. The Kernel method proved to be useful in the global analysis of the epidemiological situation of leptospirosis in the regions of Brazil.

KEYWORDS
Epidemiology; Spatial analysis; Database; Leptospirosis