Survival time among patients who were diagnosed with tuberculosis, the precocious deaths and associated factors in southern Brazil.

Background: A diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) does not mean that the disease will be treated successfully, since death may occur even among those who are known to the health services. Here, we aimed to analyze patient survival time from the diagnosis of TB to death, precocious deaths, and associated factors in southern Brazil.

Methods: We conducted a longitudinal study with patients who were diagnosed with TB and who died due to the disease between 2008 and 2015 in southern Brazil.

Space-time clustering and temporal trends of hospitalizations due to pulmonary tuberculosis: potential strategy for assessing health care policies.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) causes pressure on healthcare resources, especially in terms of hospital admissions, despite being considered an ambulatory care-sensitive condition for which timely and effective care in ambulatory setting could prevent the need for hospitalization. Our objectives were to describe the spatial and temporal variation in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) hospitalizations, identify critical geographic areas at municipality level and characterize clusters of PTB hospitalizations to help the development of tailored disease management strategies that could improve TB control.

Methods: Ecologic study using sociodemographic, geographical and clinical information of PTB hospitalization cases from continental Portuguese public hospitals, between 2002 and 2016.

Effect of social development in reducing tuberculosis mortality In northeastern Brazil areas.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is the primary cause of death among infectious diseases affecting groups in extreme poverty. Social improvements could reverse this situation in Brazil. This study aims to demonstrate the spatial relationship between social development (SD) and TB mortality in Natal, a city in northeastern Brazil.

Social risk and its association with tuberculosis mortality in a context of high inequality in South Brazil: A geo-epidemiology analysis.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide; in 2016, over 95% of TB deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries. Although the incidence and deaths from TB have decreased in Brazil in recent years, the disease has increased in the vulnerable population, whose diagnosis is more delayed and the chances for abandonment and deaths are significantly higher. This study aimed to identify high-risk areas for TB mortality and evidence their social determinants through a sensitive tailored social index, in a context of high inequality in South Brazil.

Bayesian spatio-temporal models for mapping TB mortality risk and its relationship with social inequities in a region from Brazilian Legal Amazon.

Background: Reducing TB mortality is a great challenge in Brazil due to its territorial extension, cultural variations and economic and political crises, which impact the health system. This study aimed to estimate in space and time the risk of TB mortality and test its relationship with social inequities.

Methods: This was an ecological study that included deaths from TB between 2006 and 2016 in Cuiabá, Brazilian Legal Amazon.

Leprosy in urban space, areas of risk for disability and worsening of this health condition in Foz Do Iguaçu, the border region between Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.

Background: Leprosy is a public health problem and a challenge for endemic countries, especially in their border regions where there are intense migration flows. The study aimed to analyse the dynamics of leprosy, in order to identify areas of risk for the occurrence of the disease and disability and places where this health condition is worsening.

Method: This ecological study considered the new cases of leprosy reported in the municipality of Foz do Iguaçu from 2003 to 2015.

Predictive model of unfavorable outcomes for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

Objective: to analyze the temporal trend, identify the factors related and elaborate a predictive model for unfavorable treatment outcomes for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

Methods: Retrospective cohort study with all cases diagnosed with MDR-TB between the years 2006 and 2015 in the state of São Paulo. The data were collected from the state system of TB cases notifications (TB-WEB).

Detection of risk clusters for deaths due to tuberculosis specifically in areas of southern Brazil where the disease was supposedly a non-problem.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is the infectious disease that kills the most people worldwide. The use of geoepidemiological techniques to demonstrate the dynamics of the disease in vulnerable communities is essential for its control. Thus, this study aimed to identify risk clusters for TB deaths and their variation over time.

Areas with evidence of equity and their progress on mortality from tuberculosis in an endemic municipality of southeast Brazil.

Background: In Brazil, people still fall ill and die from tuberculosis (TB), and this can be explained by the significant impasse in the equity of distribution of therapeutic resources to the population as a whole. The aim was to identify geographical areas which have shown progress in terms of equity (of income, schooling and urban occupancy) and test its effect on mortality from TB in a municipality of southeast Brazil.

Methods: It is an ecological study considering TB as the basic cause for deaths registered between 2006 and 2013 on the Mortality Information System and other variables obtained through the Demographic Census of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (2010).

Validity and reliability of the tuberculosis-related stigma scale version for Brazilian Portuguese.

Background: Stigma associated with tuberculosis (TB) has been an object of interest in several regions of the world. The behaviour presented by patients as a result of social discrimination has contributed to delays in diagnosis and the abandonment of treatment, leading to an increase in the cases of TB and drug resistance. The identification of populations affected by stigma and its measurement can be assessed with the use of valid and reliable instruments developed or adapted to the target culture.

Spatial clustering and local risk of leprosy in São Paulo, Brazil.

Background: Although the detection rate is decreasing, the proportion of new cases with WHO grade 2 disability (G2D) is increasing, creating concern among policy makers and the Brazilian government. This study aimed to identify spatial clustering of leprosy and classify high-risk areas in a major leprosy cluster using the SatScan method.

Methods: Data were obtained including all leprosy cases diagnosed between January 2006 and December 2013.

Prevalence and evolution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in tuberculosis case contacts.

Introduction: The tuberculin test is a diagnostic method for detecting latent tuberculosis (TB) infection, especially among disease contact cases. The objective of this study was to analyze the prevalence and evolution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection among TB contact cases.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed in a reference center for TB.