Syphilis Screening among 27,150 Pregnant Women in South Chinese Rural Areas Using Point-of-Care Tests

Abstract

ObjectivesTo determine the prevalence and correlates of syphilis among pregnant women in rural areas of South China.MethodsPoint-of-care syphilis testing was provided at 71 health facilities in less developed, rural areas of Guangdong Province. Positive samples were confirmed at a local referral center by toluidine red unheated serum tests (TRUST) and Treponema pallidum particle agglutination (TPPA) tests.ResultsAltogether 27,150 pregnant women in rural Guangdong were screened for syphilis. 106 (0.39%) syphilis cases were diagnosed, of which 78 (73.6%) received treatment for syphilis. Multivariate analysis revealed that older pregnant women (31–35 years old, aOR 2.7, 95% CI 0.99–7.32; older than 35 years old, aOR 5.9, 95% CI 2.13–16.34) and those with a history of adverse pregnant outcomes (aOR 3.64, 95% CI 2.30–5.76) were more likely to be infected with syphilis.ConclusionsA high prevalence of syphilis exists among pregnant women living in rural areas of South China. Enhanced integration of syphilis screening with other routine women's health services (OB GYN, family planning) may be useful for controlling China's syphilis epidemic.

A Three Year Retrospective Study on Seroprevalence of Syphilis among Pregnant Women at Gondar University Teaching Hospital, Ethiopia

“…Yet, in 2010 seroprevalence of syphilis showed decreasing, again in 2011, an increased seroprevalence was observed. The overall prevalence of syphilis is consistent with the result reported from Addis Ababa 2.9% (10).This figure is slightly higher than the seroprevalence of syphilis reported from Burkina Faso (0.24%) (11), Nigeria (0.07%) (12) and rural China (0.39%) (13). However, this result is lower than previous reports from Gondar health center in 2006 (23%) (14), Debretabor (13.7%) (15), Jimma hospital (12.1%) (16), urban and semi-urban health centers of Ethiopia (8.6%) (17), sub-Saharan African country (8.3%) (7), Democratic Republic of Congo (4.2%) (18) and Uganda (4.0%) (19).…”

Point of care diagnostics for sexually transmitted infections: perspectives and advances

“…POC tests for syphilis have been successfully deployed in other areas of the world as well, including Peru and China [62,63]. In these areas, POC testing for syphilis proved feasible and valuable particularly in China, where a high incidence of primary syphilis was observed in pregnant women from rural areas of the country [62].…”

“…In these areas, POC testing for syphilis proved feasible and valuable particularly in China, where a high incidence of primary syphilis was observed in pregnant women from rural areas of the country [62]. …”

Epidemiologia da sífilis gestacional e congênita: revisão integrativa de literatura

“…Observa-se maior incidência por sífilis gestacional em gestantes mais velhas, seguidas das mais jovens e em menor proporção em adolescentes, mostrando infecção por sífilis em todas as idades do ciclo reprodutivo (Olavarrieta et al, 2011;Díaz et al, 2011;Constenla, 2013;Yang et al, 2013;Rodriguez, Domingues, Leal, 2016;Amsalu, Ferede, Assegu, 2018;Albornoz, Lazarte, 2018). A ocorrência entre as mais jovens é correlacionada com a vida sexual mais ativa e multiplicidade de parceiros (Yang et al, 2013;Domingues, Leal, 2016). O aumento da incidência na faixa etária maior e em casadas pode estar associado a falta de uso de preservativos devido a monogamia do casamento (Whittermore et al, 2014;Su et al, 2016, WHO, 2017Albornoz, Lazarte, 2018).…”

“…A mudança de perfil epidemiológico das ISTs tem exigido a confecção de protocolos eficazes, na ajuda à países endêmicos, no combate a esses agravos (Navega, Maia, 2018). Melhorar o rastreamento da sífilis durante o pré-natal por meio de exames laboratoriais e testes rápidos foi a estratégia mais apontada pelos países (Yáñez-Alvarez et al, 2012;Ormaeche et al, 2012;Yang et al, 2013;Rodríguez, Constenla, 2013;Cifuentes-Cifuentes, 2013;Ensari et al, Research, Society and Development, v. 9, n. 4, e178942470, 2020(CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i4.247016 2015Chen et al, 2015;Domingues, Leal, 2016;Su et al, 2016;Amsalu, Ferede, Assegu, 2018 (Rodrigues, 2015;Brasil, 2019).…”