An estimate of the incidence and prevalence of laryngeal papillomatosis in São Paulo State (Brasil).

Background: Recurrent laryngeal papillomatosis, caused by the Human Papilloma Virus, has a significant economic impact worldwide and there are no epidemiological data of this disease in Brasil.

Objective: The objective of the study was to estimate the incidence and prevalence of laryngeal papillomatosis of some otorhinolaryngology centers in São Paulo State (Brasil).

Methods: A questionnaire containing data on the number of new and follow-up cases diagnosed with laryngeal papillomatosis was sent to the Otorhinolaryngology services (n=35) of São Paulo State (Brasil).

Results: A total of 20 otorhinolaryngology centers answered the questionnaire. Of these, the five largest regional health centers were selected as follows: Campinas (42 cities - 4,536,657 inhabitants), Sao Jose do Rio Preto (102 cities - 1,602,845 inhabitants), Ribeirão Preto (26 cities - 1,483,715 inhabitants), Bauru (68 cities - 1,770,427 inhabitants), and Sorocaba (47 cities - 2,478,208 inhabitants). The incidence and prevalence of each regional health centers were, respectively: Campinas (5.51;7.27), Sorocaba (2.02;6.86), São José do Rio Preto (1.87;7.49), Ribeirão Preto (11.46;22.92), and Bauru (3.95;7.91).

Conclusion: The incidence and prevalence of the laryngeal papillomatosis of the five largest regional health centers of the interior of São Paulo State (Brasil) varied between 1.87 to 11.46 and 6.86 to 22.92 per 1,000,000 inhabitants, respectively for a total population of 11,871,852 inhabitants.