Prevalence of reactive serological tests for syphilis in the Jamaican population

ABSTRACT

Serological tests for syphilis (STS) were performed on sera from 15,876 members of the general adult population, 3,039 pregnant women and 1,029 children, in order to assess the prevalence and value of reactive STS in Jamaicans; 2.7 percent of sera from the general adult population, 4.7 percent from pregnant women and 2.2 percent from children were reactive in the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test. Reactive Flourescent Treponemal Absorption (FTA-ABS) tests occurred in significantly higher frequency in pregnant women (4 percent ) than in the general population (2.2 percent; p<0.001). The prevalence of reactive STS in children did not differ significantly from that of the general adult population. The predictive value of a reactive VDRL test in pregnant women (85 percent) was higher than that of the general population (79 percent). These results suggest that inadequate screening with the inexpensive VDRL test would enable the early detection and treatment of syphilis, and could prevent increasing incidence of congenital syphilis in Jamaica (AU)