Syphilis in Brazil: time of COVID-19

Abstract

Background: Sexually transmitted infections, such as syphilis, even though they have treatment, represent an important public health problem. In view of the pandemic brought about by the new coronavirus worldwide, changes in the incidence of syphilis in Brazil and in the state of Goiás were noticed. Methods: this is a descriptive, exploratory and retrospective observational study with integrative and systematic analysis. A search was carried out at the SUS IT Department (DATA-SUS), through the TABNET application. Results: the study identified the evolution of cases of acquired, gestational and congenital syphilis in Brazil and in the State of Goias. We can see a gradual increase over the years until 2018, but a slight decrease in 2019 and a significant reduction in 2020. Conclusion: we cannot conclude that social distancing reduced the disease transmission rate, since underreporting of cases can only be proven in a few years, when the number of visits to specialized clinics and the performance of diagnostic tests normalize.