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Background: leprosy is a chronic and communicable disease affecting mankind since its origins and its incidence is very variable. Objective: to determine the incidence of leprosy in the province of Cienfuegos from 1980 through 2009. Methods: a clinical and epidemiological study was conducted involving patients diagnosed with leprosy in the province of Cienfuegos. Incidence was analyzed in each year. Results: incidence was very variable in all years studied; lowest rate occurred in 1993 with 0.3 per 100 000 inhabitants; in 2008 the rate increased to 4 per 100 000 inhabitants. Conclusions: leprosy showed an unstable incidence throughout the study period, with highs and lows. It is important to note that in recent years it has showed an increasing trend.

Background: Leprosy is a chronic and communicable disease that has appeared in human beings since their very emergence as species. It can produce, along its evolution, great deformities that patients very much fear. Objective: To describe diagnostic forms and leprosy-related disabilities in the province of Cienfuegos from 1980 to 2005. Methods: A descriptive case series study was conducted with patients diagnosed with leprosy in the province of Cienfuegos. The variables analyzed were diagnostic form (early or late) and presence of disabilities. Data processing was performed using the SPSS program. In this sense, we created a database with the previously mentioned variables. Results: The proportion and trend of diagnostic form (early or late) was not stable. In general, patients with early diagnosis and without disabilities predominated. Conclusions: through the case series study, the importance of early diagnosis to prevent the disabilities became evident: as the number of early diagnosis increases, thus proportionally decreased the number of disabilities in patients.

Fundamento: la lepra es una enfermedad crónica y transmisible que acompaña al hombre desde sus inicios. Es capaz, en su evolución, de producir grandes deformidades muy temidas por los pacientes. Objetivo: describir la forma de diagnóstico y las discapacidades por lepra en la provincia de Cienfuegos de 1980 a 2005. Métodos: estudio descriptivo de serie de casos sobre pacientes con diagnóstico de lepra en la provincia de Cienfuegos. Se analizaron las variables: forma de diagnóstico (precoz o tardío), la existencia de discapacidades. El procesamiento de la información se realizó empleando el programa SPSS, para lo cual se creó una base de datos con las variables antes referidas. Resultados: la proporción y tendencia de la forma de detección, precoz o tardío fue variable, en general predominaron los casos con diagnóstico precoz y sin incapacidad. Conclusiones: se evidenció, mediante la serie estudiada, la importancia de un diagnóstico precoz para evitar la aparición de discapacidades, pues a medida que aumenta el número de diagnóstico precoz disminuye proporcionalmente el número de discapacidades en los enfermos.