Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of syphilis in a tertiary care hospital situated in Hisar, Haryana. Methods: The study is a five year study (Jan 2006 to Dec 2010), in which a total of 1550 sera obtained from clinically suspected cases of syphilis and pregnant females were screened for cardiolipin antibodies by the rapid plasma reagin (RPR) test. The total number of males was 650 while the total number of females was 900. Results: The RPR test was positive in 48 patients (3.09%). Out of a total of 850 pregnant females, 10 (1.18%) were tested positive through RPR test. Among the remaining 38 positive patients, males were 35 and females were 3. The most common age group affected was 19-24 years in both the sexes. Conclusions: Our findings showed that there is a substantial benefit of using an economical test like RPR for the diagnosis of syphilis in resource-poor setting. Great importance should be given to the screening of pregnant females for syphilis.

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