Epidemiological profile of syphilis in pregnants women in Brazil

Abstract

Objective: To know the number of cases and detection rate of syphilis in pregnant women and congenital syphilis in Brazil, as well as the profile of these pregnant women and the time of diagnosis. Methods: Ecological study, with data on syphilis in pregnant women and congenital syphilis in Brazil from 2011 to 2020, obtained from the Ministry of Health's online platform of syphilis indicators. Results: A gradual increase in the incidence of maternal syphilis and consequently of congenital syphilis was observed. There were 385,412 cases of syphilis in pregnant women and 190,034 cases of congenital syphilis in the study period. The syphilis detection rate for every 1,000 live births was 4.7 in 2011 and 20.6 in 2020 in pregnant women and 3.3 in 2011 and 7.7 in 2020 in children under one year of age. Syphilis in pregnant women was more prevalent in young, brown and low-educated women. There was a gradual increase over the years of study of maternal diagnosis of syphilis in prenatal care in latent phases and in the 1st trimester. Conclusion: Brazil still has worrying rates in relation to syphilis during pregnancy and congenital syphilis, which can be considered as reemerging diseases.