Epidemiology of syphilis in regional blood transfusion centres in Burkina Faso, West Africa

Cyrille Bisseye, Mahamoudou Sanou, Bolni M.arius Nagalo, Alice Kiba, Tegwindé Rebeca Compaoré, Issoufou Tao, Jacques Simpore

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Syphilis remains a major public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa, including Burkina Faso. However, few published data are available on the prevalence of syphilis in the population. This study had two main objectives: to determine the seroprevalence of syphilis in a cohort of 37,210 first time blood donors and to study socio-demographic factors associated with the risk of infection by Treponema pallidum.

METHODS: Antibodies to Treponema pallidum were screened by using Reagin Rapid Test (RPR) and confirmed by treponema pallidum haemagglutination test (TPHA).

RESULTS: The overall seroprevalence of syphilis was 1.5% among first time blood donors and was significantly different between centers (p <0.001). The infection was significantly higher in men than women among blood donors in Ouagadougou and Fada N'gourma (P = 0.001 and P = 0.034). The overall seroprevalence of syphilis among blood donors was not associated with either age group or HIV status. In contrast, a significantly high seroprevalence of syphilis was observed in blood donors with HBsAg (P = 0.014) and anti-HCV (P = 0.007) positive.

CONCLUSION: Our report shows a low seroprevalence of syphilis in the representative sample of the population of Burkina Faso. The seroprevalence of syphilis remains unequally distributed between urban and rural areas and was not associated with HIV infection.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)69
Number of pages1
JournalThe Pan African medical journal
Volume16
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013

Keywords

  • Burkina Faso
  • HIV
  • Syphilis
  • blood donor
  • seroprevalence

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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