Prenatal Screening Syphilis: Is Universal Screening Necessary in Saudi Arabia?

To study the seroprevalence of syphilis among pregnant women; attending their first prenatal examination, and the value of routine prenatal screening for syphilis at the Antenatal Clinic of King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A retrospective analysis of the routine prenatal tests results of women attending for their first antenatal booking visits over a period of 3 years, between January 1st, 2004 and December 31st, 2007. For all women, the results of the routine prenatal venereal disease; research laboratory and rapid plasma reagin tests were reviewed and correlated with data on age, nationality, gravidity, parity and number of abortions. The sample study was comprised of 8,989 women. There were 8,987 successful tests; only two cases (0.02%) were seropositive for the syphilis antibody (positive VDRL/RPR). Confirmatory treponemal tests (Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay) were negative. Therefore, prevalence of syphilis at first prenatal visit of the subjects in this study was zero. Low prevalence of syphilis in prenatal and obstetric population had been reported in the few research studies in Saudi Arabia. The new findings of this present study increase the importance of a nation-wide survey to guide the revision of practice at a national scale in Saudi Arabia.