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Serological Screening for Syphilis during Pregnancy in a Multiethnic Asian Population
Author(s) -
Goh Tai H.,
Ngeow Y. F.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
asia‐oceania journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1447-0756
pISSN - 0389-2328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1447-0756.1989.tb00154.x
Subject(s) - syphilis , medicine , kuala lumpur , obstetrics , serology , pregnancy , treponematosis , population , gynecology , pediatrics , family medicine , immunology , sexually transmitted disease , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , environmental health , antibody , marketing , biology , business , genetics
Out of 14,841 women who were serologically examined for syphilis at the antenatal booking clinic, University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, 1.78% were VDRL positive and 1.05% TPHA positive with significant differences between the Malays, Indians and Chinese. These rates are higher than published series and were attributed to childhood yaws infection among the Malays. As differentiation between yaws and syphilitic infection in the clinic is difficult, all TPHA‐reactive women were treated as for syphilis. Congenital syphilis was not diagnosed in those women who had been effectively treated before delivery.