[Leprosy: control of household contacts in the municipality of Londrina-PR for a ten-year period].

The purpose of this descriptive study is to analyze variables related to leprosy patients' household contacts who received treatment in Londrina-PR-Brazil for a ten-year period. The data analysis was based on the health service's records and from a system of infectious disease. Out of 1055 leprosy's patients, it was recorded 3394 contacts with an average of 3,2. The most exposed individuals were those aged up to 40 (71,5%); son/daughter (40.6%) and husband/wife (17.8%). Of the1731 contacts (51.0%) examined, 183 showed some signs of the disease: there were 16 confirmed cases, 47 were excluded and 120 did not finish the clinical investigation. Most of the contacts (51.6%) were exposed to the multibacillary forms and 12.8% proved they were vaccinated with two doses of BCG. It is possible to conclude that the follow-up of the contacts was not adequate.