A retrospective study on seroprevalence and clinical spectrum of syphilis from a tertiary care center in South India

Abstract

Objectives: Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and a great imitator with a varied range of clinical manifestations. Incidence of syphilis has been on the rise in the last decade. In this study, we have analyzed the seroprevalence and clinical staging of syphilis cases reported in our healthcare facility. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of syphilis by reviewing data from hospital sources from January 2017 to December 2019. Out of 8827 screened patients, the clinical data from patients who were serologically positive for both rapid plasma reagin and Treponema pallidum hemagglutination tests were retrieved and statistically analyzed. Results: Of the 8827 samples screened, 35 were diagnosed as cases of syphilis. Among 35 cases, primary syphilis was diagnosed in 8, secondary syphilis in 10, and latent syphilis in 17 cases. There were 4 (11.4%) females and 31 (88.6%) males. Twenty-one (60%) were married. Of 31 males, 23 (74.2%) were men who have sex with men (MSM). Among the 35 patients, 33 (94.3%) had unprotected and 2 (5.7%) had protected sexual activity. Out of them, 3 patients were human immunodeficiency virus positive, which included 2 with secondary and 1 with latent syphilis. Conclusion: Identification and health education of MSM, especially with respect to using barrier methods of contraception, are necessary in the prevention of transmission of STDs. With epidemiological trends showing syphilis re-emerging as a major sexually transmitted infection, there is a need to conduct multicenter prospective studies with larger sample size for better understanding and effective assessment of control measures.

Keywords

• rapid plasma reagin
• seroprevalence
• syphilis
• treponema pallidum hemagglutination