Assessment of the Impact of Rapid Syphilis Tests on Syphilis Screening and Treatment of Pregnant Women in Zambia

Overview

Journal Int J Gynaecol Obstet

Publisher Wiley

Specialty Gynecology & Obstetrics

Date 2015 May 14

PMID 25968492

Citations 19

Authors

Rachael E Bonawitz

Julie Duncan

Emily Hammond

Leoda Hamomba

Jane Nambule

Kennedy Sambambi

Victor Musonda

Alana Calise

Anna Knapp

Jonas Mwale

James McCauley

Donald Thea

Julie M Herlihy

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the impact of rapid syphilis tests (RSTs) on syphilis testing and treatment in pregnant women in Kalomo District, Zambia.

Methods: In March 2012, health workers at all 35 health facilities in Kalomo Distract were trained in RST use and penicillin treatment. In March 2013, data were retrospectively abstracted from 18 randomly selected health facilities and stratified into three time intervals: baseline (6months prior to RST introduction), midline (0-6 months after RST introduction), and endline (7-12 months after RST introduction).

Results: Data collected on 4154 pregnant women showed a syphilis-reactive seroprevalence of 2.7%. The proportion of women screened improved from baseline (140/1365, 10.6%) to midline (976/1446, 67.5%), finally decreasing at endline (752/1337, 56.3%) (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the proportion of syphilis-seroreactive pregnant women who received 1 dose of penicillin before (1/2, 50%) or after (5/48, 10.4%; P=0.199) RST introduction with low treatment rates throughout.

Conclusion: With RST scale-up in Zambia and other resource-limited settings, same-day test and treatment with penicillin should be prioritized to achieve the goal of eliminating congenital syphilis.

Citing Articles

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Benzathine penicillin G stockouts and other barriers to documented syphilis treatment in pregnancy in Zambia.

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