NURSING CARE FOR PATIENTS WITH LEPROSY TREATED BY PRIMARY CARE: INTEGRATIVE REVIEW

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. Its predilection for the skin and peripheral nerves gives this disease particular characteristics, making its diagnosis simple. Brazil continues to be the second country in the world in terms of the number of cases, after India. Approximately 94% of known cases in the Americas and 94% of newly diagnosed cases are reported in Brazil. The disease manifests itself in two stable and opposing poles (virchowian and tuberculoid) and two unstable groups (indeterminate and dimorphic). In another classification, the disease is divided into tuberculoid, borderline or dimorphic forms, which are divided into dimorphic-tuberculoid, dimorphic-dimorphic and dimorphic-lepromatous and lepromatous forms. Microscopic examination of smears is the most useful complementary test for diagnosis. Treatment of leprosy includes: specific chemotherapy, suppression of reactive eruptions, prevention of physical disability, physical and psychosocial rehabilitation. Polychemotherapy based on rifampicin, dapsone and clofazimine has proven to be very effective and the prospects for controlling the disease in Brazil are real in the short term.