Trend of Syphilis: Risk Factors and Presentation of Syphilis in Different Stages

Abstract

Introduction: Syphilis is a disease of considerable public health importance with overwhelming health effects if not treated on time. The clinical presentation of syphilis is diverse and patients may present in different stages. Most patients presented to our STI OPD were found to be in late latent phase. The incidence of syphilis has shown a fluctuating trend over last five years. Most of the patients included in our study gave a history of casual sex while the clients of sex workers were the second most common risk groups.

Materials and methods: This is a five year retrospective observational study in which the records of the patients who were diagnosed as syphilis in the STI OPD of NAMS, Bir Hospital from 2071 to 2075 B.S. (April 2014 - March 2019) have been analyzed.

Results: Out of 2658 STI cases studied, 731 (27.5%) patients were found to have syphilis. The annual number of cases of syphilis was on decreasing trend in the first 2 years to increase again in the next 3 years. Most patients (40.4%) presented in late latent phase. HIV sero-positivity was found in 0.95% cases.

Conclusion: Syphilis continues to be an important epidemiological problem. A fluctuating trend of syphilis was observed during the study period when all groups were analyzed together, which calls for continued and sustained efforts for case detection, treatment and preventive measures to contain the disease.