Epidemiological Study of Co-infection of Leprosy and COVID-19 in the State of Mato Grosso, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted neglected diseases including leprosy leading to disruptions in global leprosy programs. Leprosy offers an intriguing model for investigating the impact of occurrence and severity of COVID-19. This study aimed to assess the risk of severe COVID-19 complications in patients with co-infection by COVID-19 and M. leprae through an exploratory spatio-temporal analysis of leprosy cases diagnosed in Mato Grosso. Brazil. Leprosy patient data was retrieved from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN) for 2018-2020. while COVID-19 patient data was obtained from the IndicaSUS system for 2020. The linkage of those databases yielded 861 true pairs. Leprosy cases showed a predominance of the population aged 15-59 (78.05%) and female (57.14%). Most cases were classified as multibacillary (94.43%). Among cases with co-infection. 28.46% had comorbidities. compared to 19.24% in the overall COVID-19 patient population. The fatality rate for co-infected patients was 4.88%. while the overall COVID-19 fatality rate was 2.32%. These findings indicate that leprosy can serve as a comorbidity factor for COVID-19 patients, elevating the risk of complications, including leprosy reactions. and potentially leading to fatal outcomes. Healthcare services for leprosy patients is crucial in the context of co-infection, such as COVID-19.