33. Concerning Trends of Pediatric Leprosy in Minas Gerais, Brazil and Associations with Number of Municipality Medical Facilities

BACKGROUND: Leprosy in children under 15 years of age, and in particular, the presence of leprosy grade 2 disability (G2D) in children, signifies ongoing transmission and the need for improved surveillance. Our objective was to describe the epidemiology of pediatric leprosy in Minas Gerais, Brazil and to explore associations with access to medical facilities. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the Brazilian Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (SINAN) from 2002–2017. Incident cases were included if they resided in a municipality with both adult and pediatric cases. Municipalities were divided by the number of medical facilities per municipality: < 5, 5–17, and 18 or higher. Analyses compared pediatric cases across two time periods (2002–2009 and 2010–2017) and number of medical facilities / municipality using chi-square, t-tests, and logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 27,725 cases were reported with 1,611 under 15 years of age. Overall incidence declined from 34.8 per 100,000 to 13.6 per 100,000 during the study period with pediatric incidence declining from 2.6 per 100,000 to 0.8 per 100,000. Time period 2 (TP2) showed an increase in the proportion of pediatric G2D (2.58% vs 1.91%, p < 0.0001) when compared to time period 1 (TP1). Mean age of diagnosis in children was younger in TP2 then in TP1 (10.06 vs 10.43, p=0.02). In 2017, the pediatric incidence in municipalities with the fewest medical facilities was 0.95 per 100,000 compared to 0.23 per 100,000 in municipalities with > 5 facilities (p=0.009). There was significantly higher odds of disability at diagnosis (grades 1 and 2) in pediatric cases residing in municipalities with < 5 medical facilities (aOR 1.88; 95% CI 1.37–2.59), adjusted for age and sex. See map (Fig 1). Figure 1. Cases of Pediatric Disability By Number of Municipality Medical Facilities from 2002–2017 (White areas without reported pediatric leprosy) [Image: see text] CONCLUSION: The increasing proportion of G2D in children in the second half of the study period despite declining incidence suggest occult infections among children and adults alike in Minas Gerais. Furthermore, the average age of diagnosis in children should increase, not decrease, if M. leprae transmission was truly declining. Lastly, the association between fewer municipality health facilities and increased disability suggest barriers to timely diagnosis and a critical area of focus for research into access to healthcare and leprosy risk. DISCLOSURES: All Authors: No reported disclosures