Influence of Syphilis Infection on Abortions in Iraq

Abstract

Introduction: Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease, that may be transferred from mothers to infants during pregnancy if it is left untreated. Method: This study was conducted among 65 women who suffered from recurrent abortions in Iraq. Syphilis screening recombinant (IgM + IgG) level by ELISA, RADIM (Italy) and rapid plasma reagin (RPR) (positive and negative results) tests were used to analyse the data. Results: A non-significant association was observed with age (p=0.989), and the number of healthy births (p=0.643). Non-significant differences were observed in comparisons between smoker and non-smoker percentages in the study group. The rapid test for syphilis confirmation was applied using Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) tests. There was a significant elevation in syphilis level (IgG + IgM) in the positive test (p=0.027). The number of abortions and births had a non-significant correlation (p=0.318 and 0.783 respectively). There was a non-significant weak correlation between syphilis level (IgG + IgM) and age. Syphilis level had a non-significant association with the number of abortions, births, and with duration of marriage. The abortion percentage distribution showed a high percentage in the first trimester (75%) in positive RPR patients and 70.7% in negative results of RPR test. The second-trimester cases were low in the positive and negative RPR results than the first-trimester cases. Conclusion: The current study concluded that syphilis infection didn’t have a significant influence on abortion in women and had a non-significant influence on the number of abortions.