American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (ACL) is an infection caused by a series of protozoa of the genus Leishmania sp. This zoonosis is transmitted by sand flies that become infected from wild reservoirs, such as marsupials, and domestic reservoirs, such as dogs, cats, and horses. The disease is endemic in the state of Ceará and its dynamics need to be better studied. This is an ecological, epidemiological study of the temporal aggregated type, using data obtained from the Tabnet platform from the Departamento de Informática do Sistema Único de Saúde (DATASUS) from 2007 to 2024, in the state of Ceará, Northeast Brazil. Between 2007 and 2024, 12,334 cases were reported, with a ratio of 1.17:1 between men and women. Cases were more frequent in males 53.9% (n=6651) than in females 46.1% (n=5682). The only exception occurred in 2016, when women surpassed men by 1.9% (n=8). During the study period, the most affected age group was individuals between 20–39 years with 27.5% (n=3,404), followed by the younger population of 0–19 years with 25.9% (n=3,195). The localized cutaneous form was the most prevalent 95.7% (n=11,811), while the cutaneous-mucosal form represented 4.3% (n=380). The cutaneous form reached its peak in 2010 (n=1,049), and the mucosal form in 2015 (n=31). Among the records, 143 cases did not have the clinical form informed. Brown ethnicity was the most diagnosed, representing 75.7% (n=9,341), followed by White individuals, with 16.4% (n=2,030), and the Black population with 4.3% (n=539). Between 2007 and 2018, there was a reduction in ACL cases in Ceará; the annual proportion of cases was higher in 2010 (n=1,068; 8.6%) and lower in 2018 (n=388; 3.1%). Notable sharp drops in the proportion of cases occurred in 2012 (n=979; 7.9%) and 2013 (n=549; 4.45%). However, from 2018 to 2024, there was an increase, reaching a new peak in 2023 (n=732; 5.93%), with 624 cases already recorded in 2024. Ceará is an endemic state for ACL with more than ten thousand cases recorded in the study period. A rising trend was noted in two periods, between 2007 and 2010 and between 2018 and 2021. The latter coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic period, when a slight increase in cases was noted. The profile of patients with ACL predominated in the localized cutaneous form, affecting mainly adult men, brown, aged 20 to 39 years. More studies are needed to understand the dynamics of ACL in the state.
Bezerra et al. (Sun,) studied this question.