Systematic review of temporal trends of congenital syphilis in Brazil

Background and objectives: In view of the increase in the number of cases of Congenital Syphilis (CS) in Brazil, the present study sought to identify and summarize the CS temporal trends in studies conducted in the country, as well as to list its main associated factors. Contents: In August 2019, a systematic review was carried out in four electronic databases (Lilacs, Pubmed, Scielo and Web of Science) and by manual searches on reference lists. Ecological studies that presented temporal trends of CS in Brazilian territory were included, regardless of the sample's characteristics and its representativeness. It was established that the prevalence of CS in the first and last years of each time series would be presented in the descriptive synthesis. Of the 2,157 initial studies, 14 were included. Twelve (85.7%) of these studies showed increases in temporal trends, with special emphasis on the two national studies, which showed positive trends between 2003-2008 (0.4) and 2010-2015 (3.7). Associations between CS and socioeconomic and ethnic factors were found, especially in groups of women with low income, low education, brown/black skin color and who had untreated partners. Conclusions: There was an increase in the temporal trends of CS in the country, highlighting that these data were observed at the national, state and municipal levels. As mothers' socioeconomic and ethnic factors are associated with higher frequencies of CS, efforts are needed to increase the coverage of the actions of the Brazilian Health System in these groups.