Screening for Syphilis in Pregnant Women in Resource-Limited Environment: Which Approach Is Effective? Case Report

Abstract

Syphilis in a pregnant woman keeps threatening the life of both the woman and her fetus at any time of pregnancy. While the control of this disease seemed to be effective around the 2000s in developed countries, its prevalence in pregnant women has risen all over the world especially in countries with limited resources. Although syphilis control in pregnant women would be part of the health policy of almost all the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, this opportunity is unfortunately not capitalized to the maximum by pregnant women who, for the most part, do attend health facilities only during the last trimesters of pregnancy. The purpose of this case study is to evaluate effective methods in screening pregnant women for syphilis in the absence of an equipped laboratory, which is the situation in many low income countries.