Hanses's disease is a millenary illness, characterized as a public health issue. This study aims to verify the knowledge of people with Hansen's disease about their problem and its treatment and point out possible changes in their lives as a consequence. We conducted interviews with people in treatment for multi-bacillary Hansen's disease in a Basic Health Unit of Sobral, Ceara State, in 2005. We realized that the knowledge about the disease is elementary, usually expressed by people's own experience, involving negative feelings. Some bearers showed to have appropriate knowledge according to the literature, acquired through the internet, books and information from friends and relatives. The main changes in their lives after the diagnosis was related to the use of medicines, as some people related improvement in their symptoms and others worsening, interfering in their daily activities.

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Hanseníase: conhecimentos e mudanças na vida das pessoas acometidas

Leprosy is a contagious disease of a great disabling potential and the teenagers, living a changing phase of their lives, can be negatively influenced by the disease sequelae. This study aims to characterize the teenagers with leprosy disease according to social-demographic aspects, to proceed epidemic-operational analysis of leprosy disease; check teenagers' knowledge about leprosy disease and the way they reacted after they found out they had the disease; identify the changes occurred in the teenager's life and the difficulties after they had the disease. It is an explorative and descriptive research which involved 31 teenagers who are carriers of the leprosy disease and are assisted by the Family Health Strategy, in Sobral munipality-Ceara. The results point out the need of an integral and continuous attendance to the teenager with leprosy disease, avoiding that this disease brings significant changes to his/her life that can difficult to the construction of his/her new identity.

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Ximenes Neto Fr

Papers

[Leprosy: the reality for adolescents].