ANTENATAL SCREENING FOR SYPHILIS

A review of the effectiveness of antenatal screening for syphilis in the 3 year period 1989 to 1991 was made at the Department of Obstetrics, University of Zurich. In a total of 5640 pregnancies, 30 had a reactive TPHA-result. Using FTA-ABS-test and IgM-tests, 2 were false positive and 27 were considered as seropositive without signs of infection. Only one patient had a serology consistent with a latent syphilis. In Switzerland, every year approx. 9 newborns with positive serology for syphilis are found. Most of them, however, are not infected and the result only reflects the serostatus of the mother. Because of these poor results we doubt the usefulness of an antenatal screening programme for syphilis.