Prevalence of Syphilis among Pregnant Women in Two Health Care Facilities in South Western Nigeria

Aims: The prevalence of syphilis has been reported to be on the increase worldwide as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Maternal syphilis puts the fetus at risk of congenital syphilis with the attendant health risks including intrauterine death. This study was carried out to determine the seroprevalence among pregnant women attending antenatal care unit of two tertiary care facilities in South Western Nigeria.
Study Design: A Cross-sectional study was carried out.
Place and Duration of Study: LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo and State Specialist Hospital, Osogbo, Nigeria from October 2012 to May 2013.
Methodology: Three hundred and ninety-four pregnant women were recruited for this cross-sectional descriptive study carried out from October 2012 to May 2013. A semi-structured questionnaire for socio-demographic information was administered and venous blood samples collected after obtaining informed consent and giving a health talk on mother-to-child transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Screening for syphilis was done using the qualitative Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) test. All reactive sera then had their RPR titre quantified. The confirmatory test for reactive sera was carried out using the Treponema pallidum haemagglutination (TPHA) test.
Results: Eight (2%) of the 394 samples were reactive for RPR; while 4(1.0%) were positive for THPA, giving a 1.0% seroprevalence rate. Out of all the women positive for RPR, most (75%) were without any formal education while the remaining 2 had only primary education. All 4 samples that were confirmed positive by THPA were from women with no formal education. Of the 8 positive sample for RPR titre values ranged from 1:2 to 1;8 with higher titres found in those that were TPHA positive.
Conclusion: Even though the study recorded low prevalence rate of syphilis in both facilities, it is important to note that the cases were asymptomatic. Therefore routine screening for syphilis in antenatal clinic should be encouraged to prevent mother to child transmission of syphilis.