Trend of Seroprevalence of Syphilis in a Tertiary Care Centre

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease (STD), caused by Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum. In this study done in a Tertiary Care Centre, seroprevalence and rising or falling trend of syphilis in different groups among patients was analyzed. Aims: To study trend of seroprevalence of syphilis in a tertiary care centre. Methods: A retrospective study was carried over a period of 3 alternate years from 1st May 2012 to 30th April 2013, 1st May 2014 to 30th April 2015 and 1st May 2016 to 30th April 2017. Seroprevalence of syphilis in different patient groups was analyzed by Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) and Treponema Pallidum Hemagglutination Assay (TPHA). A Rising or falling trend of syphilis seroprevalence was also analyzed. Results: Among the 17941 serum samples tested, 504 (2.80%) were found reactive by VDRL test. A total of 1244 were tested by both quantitative VDRL test & TPHA assay. A falling trend of seroprevalence was observed from 1.04% in May 2012-April 2013 to 0.58% in May16-April17. A falling trend was observed in STD clinic attendees from 7.9% in May 2012-April 2013 to 6.12% in May 2016-April 2017. A seroprevalence of 61.72% was observed in males compared to 38.27% in females. Conclusion: A decreasing trend of syphilis was observed over a study period among antenatal women, STD clinic attendees & HIV-seropositive individuals. These findings could be interpreted as indicators of sustained efforts for case detection, treatment and improved programme for prevention & management of STD’s.