Background:
@EN Institutionalized subjects were assumedly suggested to be a high-risk for the infectious source of syphilis.
@ES Objective:
@EN Our purpose was to study the syphilis prevalence in institutionalized subjects who were admitted in Taegu Hope Village for the poor or crippled and to evaluate the presence of neurosyphilis among them.
@ES Methods:
@EN We conduced the serologic tests for syphilis with the qualitative and quantative VDRL and TPHA tests in 1558 subjects(M:936, F:622). The trend of the reactive rate was compared with those of the two studies done in the same institute in
1983-1985
and 1988. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination was performed among the reactive subjects.
@ES Results:
@EN There were 97(6.2%) reactive subjects. There were 80%(82.5%) reactive subjects with titers of 1:4 or below and 17(17.5%) with titers of 1:8 or over The biologic false positive rate of VDRI test was 12.6%, showing 92.3% with the titer below
1:4
The
greatest number of the subjects were in their 40's and 50's in both sexes. The rate in subjects in their 40's or over was 3 times higher than in the younger groups.
The CSF examination showed 5(5.2%) with significant neurosyphilitic findings. There were 1 male and 4 females, with an average age of 47.8% years. Four had asymptomatic and 1 meningovascular forms. The CSF findings revealed an increased number of
white
cells in 4 and anincreased total protein level in 3. The CSF-VDRL titers were trended lower than serum titers. From the comparison of the rsults since 1983, i.e., 11.6% in1983-1985, 7.5% in 1988 and 6.2% in 1992, the reactive rate of syphilis was
gradually decreasing, but still remained high.
@ES Conclusion:
@EN The drastic control in the sociomedical aspect is needed in institutionalized subjects who are at high-risk for syphilis as well as the CSF examination for the presence of neurosyphilis among the reactive subjects. (Kor J Dermatol 1993 ;
31(2):
175-181)
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