Temporal trends and spatial distribution of leishmaniasis based on biomes in Brazil, 2007 to 2020

Abstract

Analyses based on biomes provide a less fragmented view than usual studies and help the understanding of epidemiological characteristics from different perspectives. We describe the temporal trends and spatial distribution of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Brazilian biomes, from 2007 to 2020. This ecological survey used data from the Brazilian Notifiable Diseases Information System. The Prais–Winsten method was used for temporal analyses. ACL and VL incidences were calculated based on sex and age groups, relative risk considering these two variables, and mortality, lethality, cure, and treatment abandonment rates per biome. The Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, and Caatinga biomes showed a decreasing temporal trend, varying from −1% to −3% for ACL and VL, respectively. Other biomes showed a stationary temporal trend for both diseases. VL had a similar transmission profile in all biomes, affecting children aged 0–4 years regardless of sex. In contrast, ACL mainly affected older adults, except in the Amazon and Pampa, where working-age males were most commonly affected. In all biomes, being a man constituted a risk factor for acquiring these diseases, abandoning treatment, and dying, whereas being a woman configured a factor that favored cure and protected against lethality. Our findings showed a decrease in ACL and VL incidence in most biomes and a stable incidence in other biomes. The results of our study showed that the distinct transmission profiles of ACL and VL have persisted across different biomes with minute differences.