Analysis of congenital syphilis in northeastern Brazil

ABSTRACT

Justification and Objective: in Brazil, there was an increase in vertical transmission, making congenital syphilis a public health problem. In recent years, there has been an increase in syphilis cases in the five regions of Brazil, with the Northeast and Southeast regions standing out with the highest number of cases. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the epidemiological profile of congenital syphilis in Northeastern Brazil. Methods: this is a retrospective, descriptive and quantitative study based on a survey of sociodemographic, clinical and death variables in the Notifiable Diseases Information System, covering the period from 2014 to 2018. Descriptive statistics were used. Results: Pernambuco had the highest number of cases (25.2%), with a gradual increase in incidence. In 2018, the detection rate was 9.6/1,000 live births. A growing trend was observed in the number of deaths from congenital syphilis from 2014 to 2018. There was a predominance of pregnant women aged between 20 and 29 years (52.0%), with low education (31.3%) and mixed-race (77.1%). Most infected pregnant women underwent prenatal care (79.8%), but with an inadequate treatment regimen (59.2%) as well as without the partner's treatment (59.5%). Conclusion: congenital syphilis is growing in northeastern Brazil, accompanied by inadequate prenatal care. This highlights the importance of new approaches in health, with the purpose of training professionals, especially in Primary Health Care for prevention, screening and effective treatment of syphilis in pregnant women.(AU)