Epidemiology of early syphilis in Podlaskie Province in the years 1999-2007

Introduction. Podlaskie Province was formed from the fusion of three former provinces (Bialystok, Lomza and Suwalki) due to the administrative reform of 1 January 1999.

Objective. Evaluation of the incidence of early syphilis in Podlaskie Province in the years 1999-2007.

Material and methods. A total of 129 cases of early syphilis registered in dermato-venereal outpatient clinics were analysed, using the indices that are widely accepted in the epidemiology of sexually transmitted diseases.

Results. The incidence of early syphilis in Podlaskie Province within the study period was found to be low, with indices ranging in the particular years from 0.42 to 1.8, i.e. being lower than those noted in other regions of Poland (1.3-2.42). The study group included 35 cases of primary syphilis and early secondary syphilis (15.5 and 11.6% respectively), 41 patients with recurrent secondary syphilis (31.8%) and 53 early latent syphilis (41.1%). Among the patients there were 79 men (61.2%) aged 16-57 years (mean 31.9) and 50 women (38.8%) aged 18-57 years (mean 28.3); the male to female ratio was 1.58 : 1. The highest incidence was noted at 20-29 years of age (approximately 39% of all the patients) and 30-45 years of age (35%). The ≤ 19-year-old group (10.8%) included three times more women, whereas in the ≥ 46-year-old group the number of men was twice as high as that of women. Only 14 patients (10.8%) were village inhabitants; the others lived in urban areas (25% were from Bialystok, 13% from Lomza, 13% from Suwalki, 38% from 33 small provincial towns). The number of foreigners, coming from the former Soviet Union republics, treated for early syphilis (5.4%) and reported as contacts (13.7%) decreased in the study period as compared to the 1990s.

Conclusions. Within Podlaskie Province, in the period covered by the current study, the incidence indices of early syphilis were found to be lower than those observed in other regions of Poland. This fact indicates the need for assessment of the methods of syphilis detection and prevention.