SYPHILIS SEROPOSITIVITY IN PAKISTANI SOLDIERS

Abstract

Objective: To know the seropositivity of syphilis in a cohort of Pakistani soldiers and evaluate the need for routine screening.
Study Design: A cross sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital, Pano Aqil, from January 2008 to June 2011.
Patients and Methods: All the healthy officers and soldiers of Pakistan Army who reported for routine medical checkup for secondment abroad for United Nation peace keeping mission were included in the study. Age of all individuals was noted, detailed history regarding previous illnesses and treatment was obtained and detailed physical examination was performed. A Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test was performed on all participants. Positive tests were confirmed by Treponema pallidum haemagglutination (TPHA) test.
Results: A total of 2488 subjects were enrolled in the study. All of them were male. Age ranged from 18 to 56 years with a mean of 30.46 ± 6.27 years. Out of total 2488 participants 9 (0.3617%) were found reactive on testing with VDRL test. All these nine subjects were also found to be positive when tested with TPHA test.
Conclusion: As the seropositivity of syphilis in Pakistani soldiers is very low, therefore there is no need for routine serological screening for syphilis.