Seroprevalence associated with Syphilis in donor blood bank of University Hospital of Maracaibo. Period 2012-2014

• Main Authors: Milagros Montiel A., Julia Arias, Maribel Chavez, Oly Herrera, María Atencio, Karla Coronel, Andrea Patiño
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish
• Published: Universidad del Zulia,Facultad de Medicina,Departamento de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Tropicales 2016
• Subjects: Seroprevalencia; sífilis; donantes de sangre; transfusión sanguínea; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/bebba74655784954948e3cb8179e24eb

Syphilis is an infectious disease with systemic involvement, chronic or acute evolution, whose causal agent is Treponema pallidum. Its main mechanism of transmission is unprotected sexual contact, followed by risk of transmission by blood transfusion. Objective: To determine the seroprevalence associated with syphilis in blood bank donors at the Universitario Hospital of Maracaibo during the period 2012-12014. Methodology: A non-experimental descriptive study, crosssectional surveys that included confidential serological tests based on the principle of ELISA to detect anti-T. pallidum antibodies was performed. A total of 45,356 units of blood were processed. 84.7% (38,414) of donors were men and 15.3% (6,942) women with an average age of 31.1 years. During this period it was observed that the specific overall seroprevalence of anti- T. pallidum in these donors was 2.95% which is equivalent to 1,336 cases of positive serology, represented by individuals 29-39 aged 35,1% (470). The male shows increased frequency of positive donors with 87.7% (1,172). All this indicates the need for a long-term longitudinal follow and implement epidemiological surveillance programs.