Epidemiology of human visceral leishmaniasis in Pernambuco-Brazil: a descriptive study, 2015 to 2020

Introduction: Leishmaniasis is a systemic pathology caused by a parasite of the genres Leishmania which Dogs are the main disease reservoir. The main parasite form of transmission in Brazil is through Lutzomyia longipalpis female bite. Objective: The objective of this work is to assess the epidemiological profile of the VL in Pernambuco from 2015 to 2020. Method: It is observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, and retrospective from secondary dates about LV rates in Pernambuco. Data were collected from DATASUS, SINAN, and IBGE all Brazilian official systems. Results: Pernambuco located in the Northeast region of Brazil presented high rates of Leishmaniasis which is a disease with a very intense infection with more distribution in the backwoods of the state. The notification index of the state in the studied period was 175, 118, 185, 200, 181, and 113 respectively for each year. In 2016 there was a reduction of 32% in cases in relation to 2015. There was an increase in 2017 of 56.8%, and in 2018 there was an increase of 8,1%. In 2019 there was a decrease of 9,5% and in 2020 there was the smallest number of cases, a decrease of 37.6%. The mortality average of VL in the state of Pernambuco between 2015 and 2020 was 8.1%. The co-infection of LV with HIV revealed an increase during the years. Conclusion: It was identified that there may be conflict regarding canine euthanasia. In addition, the incidence of Co-infected patients with Visceral Leishmaniasis and HIV is a worrying factor. Also, basic sanitation is the main measure to reduce several neglected diseases, and for that reason the development of social actions to raise awareness against the disease in all aspects is essential.