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Background: Leprosy is an infectious and contagious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae and is mainly characterized by lesions in the skin and peripheral nerves. In Brazil, it is a public health problem due to its high endemicity. However, the state of Rio Grande do Sul presents low endemicity of this disease., Objective: To characterize the epidemiological profile of leprosy in the state of Rio Grande do Sul from 2000 to 2019., Methods: This was a retrospective observational study. Epidemiological data were collected from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN, Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação)., Results: Among the 497 municipalities in the state, 357 (71.8%) registered cases of leprosy in the assessed period, with an average of 212 (81.5%) new cases per year. The average detection rate was 1.61 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The male sex was predominant (51.9%) and the mean age was 50.4 years. Regarding the epidemiological clinical profile; 79.0% of the patients were multibacillary; 37.5% presented the borderline clinical form; 16% had grade 2 physical disability at diagnosis and bacilloscopy was positive in 35.4% of cases. As for treatment, 73.8% of the cases were treated with the standard multibacillary therapeutic regimen., Study Limitations: There were missing/inconsistent data in the database available., Conclusions: The findings observed in this study indicate that the state presents a low endemicity profile of the disease and these results can support adequate health policies relevant to the reality of Rio Grande do Sul, inserted in a national scenario of highly endemic leprosy., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U.)

Leprosy is an infectious and contagious disease affecting skin and nerves. The number of cases in individuals under 15 years old is one of the parameters used in Brazil as an indicator of endemic permanence of the disease and its continuous transmission. Rio Grande do Sul State, in Southern Brazil, is low-endemic to leprosy. However, the disease remains a public health problem. This is a retrospective, observational and analytical study of a historical series of new cases of leprosy in children under 15 years old diagnosed in the period from 2000 to 2019, in all health units in Rio Grande do Sul State. Seventy-seven new cases were notified. The male gender was predominant in 53.2% of the cases (n=41). The average age was 10.4 years (standard deviation of 2.9), with predominance of the age group between 10 and 15 incomplete years old. The most frequent operational classification was multibacillary, in 62.3% of cases (n=48), and the most common clinical form was borderline, in 38.9% of cases (n=28). The predominant disability degree in the sample was grade zero, in 80.0% of the cases (n=60), but in 4.0% (n=3) the grade assessed was 2. In 54.0% of cases (n=27), bacilloscopy was performed, with positive results in 36.0% (n=9) of the exams. Multibacillary cases, with physical disability and/or positive bacilloscopy, draws attention that that the diagnosis is frequently not made in early stages.