Mbamara S U, Obiechina N J A
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra State, Nigeria.
Niger J Med. 2011 Jan-Mar;20(1):57-60.
Venereal Syphilis if not properly and timely treated has been noted to have devastating effects on the fetus and baby. Of all the sexually transmitted infections, however, venereal syphilis is one of the most commonly screened among antenatal women. This screening is usually limited to the tertiary institutions thereby leaving the women who attend private hospitals to a disadvantage.
This current research is to determine the seroprevalence of venereal disease among women attending ANC in an Onitsha specialist private hospital and to ascertain the acceptability, and the feasibility of conducting the screening in a private setup.
This cross sectional prospective study was conducted among women, who were on their first ANC visit at Grace Specialist Hospital, Nkpor, Southeast Nigeria. They were offered VDRL test by ELISA method and TPHA confirmation test to those who were seropositive to VDRL test.
Two thousand nine hundred and ninety six women attended antenatal care during the study period but 1393 women took part in this study giving an uptake rate of 46.5%. The seroprevalence rate to venereal syphilis was 0.6%. Three out of the 8 seropositive results were confirmed with TPHA test. This gives a TPHA/VDRL ratio of 0.43. The highest range of occurrence was 25 29years. There was neither a significant association between age distribution and VDRL screening result (chi2 = 1.13; df =5; p = 0.951) nor between parity distribution and VDRL screening result (chi2 = 6.2; df = 6; p = 0.4007). Although the seroprevalence of venereal syphilis is low but routine universal screening of Venereal syphilis is possible in private hospitals and its establishment should be encouraged.
已注意到，未经妥善及时治疗的性病性梅毒会对胎儿和婴儿产生毁灭性影响。然而，在所有性传播感染中，性病性梅毒是产前女性中最常筛查的疾病之一。这种筛查通常仅限于三级医疗机构，从而使在私立医院就诊的女性处于不利地位。
本项研究旨在确定在奥尼查一家私立专科医院接受产前检查的女性中性病的血清流行率，并确定在私立机构进行筛查的可接受性和可行性。
这项横断面前瞻性研究在尼日利亚东南部恩克波尔的格蕾丝专科医院首次接受产前检查的女性中进行。通过酶联免疫吸附测定法为她们提供性病研究实验室试验，并对性病研究实验室试验血清阳性的患者进行梅毒螺旋体血凝试验确证试验。
在研究期间，2996名女性接受了产前护理，但1393名女性参与了本研究，参与率为46.5%。性病性梅毒的血清流行率为0.6%。8例血清阳性结果中有3例通过梅毒螺旋体血凝试验得到确证。这使得梅毒螺旋体血凝试验/性病研究实验室试验的比率为0.43。发病的最高年龄范围是25至29岁。年龄分布与性病研究实验室试验筛查结果之间（卡方 = 1.13；自由度 = 5；p = 0.951）以及产次分布与性病研究实验室试验筛查结果之间（卡方 = 6.2；自由度 = 6；p = 0.4007）均无显著关联。尽管性病性梅毒的血清流行率较低，但私立医院进行性病性梅毒的常规普遍筛查是可行的，应鼓励开展。
