[Pilot study for sentinel surveillance of syphilis in Galaţi county]

Abstract

Sexually transmitted diseases are still a major public health problem in the world. The incidence rate of syphilis reported in Romania increased from 1990 (23.2 cases per 100,000 population) to 2002 (58.3 cases per 100,000 population). Although the rate is slowly decreasing after 2003, syphilis remains a priority for public health (syphilis and gonorrhea are included in the list of priorities diseases for the surveillance in Romania). The purpose of this study was to report the results of the sentinel surveillance pilot system implemented with the support of a PHARE project in 2004, in Galati district. Galati, one of the 41 districts in Romania is located in the southeast part of the country and presents higher incidence rates of syphilis (ex. 99.2 cases per 100,000 populations in 2002). High and low risk groups were included in the study and were tested for syphilis. For diagnosis the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) and Treponema pallidum haemagglutination (TPHA) and RPR carbon tests were used.