SEROPREVALENCE OF SYPHILIS IN MOGADISHU, SOMALIA: A TERTIARY HOSPITAL CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Introduction: Syphilis is a major global public health threat. It poses a considerable challenge to public health as indicated by the increased number of diagnosed cases. There are estimate of over 7 million new cases of person aged 15 to 49 annually and over 300,000 fetal and neonatal deaths attributed to syphilis. The world Health organization the 2022–2030 global health sector strategies outline new strategies for combating sexually transmitted diseases (STI).

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study carried out among patient attended in Kalkaal hospitals between June 2019 to July 2022 a period of three years. The study participants comprised of patients who attended the Outpatient department of the hospital and were screened for syphilis. More particularly, VDRL nontreponemal test was used in the screening phase and confirmation was carried out using FTA- ABS treponemal test. Before initiating screening among patients and the blood sample collections Informed consent were signed by patient and they were informed that the data will be used for research purpose. The study protocol was approved by Kalkaal Hospital Research Review Board. Data cleaning was done using excel. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 25. The study concluded that syphilis was more common in men than in women. Rural areas had a greater syphilis prevalence than urban areas did. The data demonstrate a statistically significant difference between the patient age group and the results of the syphilis test. It is clear from this studys high prevalence of syphilis across genders, places of residence, and age groups that public health approaches to sexually diseases prevention and control needs to be reviewed.

Conclusion: The study concluded that syphilis was more common in men than in women. Rural areas had a greater syphilis prevalence than urban areas did. The data demonstrate a statistically significant difference between the patient age group and the results of the syphilis test. It is clear from this studys high prevalence of syphilis across genders, places of residence, and age groups that public health approaches to sexually diseases prevention and control needs to be reviewed.