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Background Congenital syphilis (CS) is a major and avoidable cause of neonatal death worldwide. In this study, we aimed to estimate excess all-cause mortality in children under 5 years with CS compared to those without CS. Methods and findings In this population-based cohort study, we used linked, routinely collected data from Brazil from January 2011 to December 2017. Cox survival models were adjusted for maternal region of residence, maternal age, education, material status, self-declared race and newborn sex, and year of birth and stratified according to maternal treatment status, non-treponemal titers and presence of signs and symptoms at birth. Over 7 years, a total of 20 057 013 live-born children followed up (through linkage) to 5 years of age, 93 525 were registered with CS, and 2 476 died. The all-cause mortality rate in the CS group was 7·84/1 000 person-years compared with 2·92/1 000 person-years in children without CS, crude hazard ratio (HR) = 2·41 (95% CI 2·31 to 2·50). In the fully adjusted model, the highest under-five mortality risk was observed among children with CS from untreated mothers HR = 2·82 (95% CI 2·63 to 3·02), infants with non-treponemal titer higher than 1:64 HR = 8·87 (95% CI 7·70 to 10·22), and children with signs and symptoms at birth HR = 7·10 (95% CI 6·60 to 7·63). Among children registered with CS, CS was recorded as the underlying cause of death in 33% (495/1 496) of neonatal, 11% (85/770) of postneonatal, and 2·9% (6/210) of children 1 year of age. The main limitations of this study were the use of a secondary database without additional clinical information and the potential misclassification of exposure status. Conclusions This study showed an increased mortality risk among children with CS that goes beyond the first year of life. It also reinforces the importance of maternal treatment that infant non-treponemal titers and the presence of signs and symptoms of CS at birth are strongly associated with subsequent mortality. Trial registration Observational study., Author(s): Enny S. Paixao 1,2,*, Andrêa JF Ferreira 2, Idália Oliveira dos Santos 2, Laura C. Rodrigues 1,2, Rosemeire Fiaccone 2,3, Leonardo Salvi 2, Guilherme Lopes de Oliveira 2,4, José [...]

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the quality of information on gestational syphilis (GS) and congenital syphilis (CS) on the Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (SINAN-Syphilis Brazil - Notifiable Diseases Information System) by compiling and validating completeness indicators between 2007 and 2018. METHODS: Overall, care, and socioeconomic completeness scores were compiled based on selected variables, by using ad hoc weights assigned by experts. The completeness scores were analysed, considering the region and area of residence, the pregnant woman's race/colour, and the year of case notification. Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to validate the scores obtained by the weighted average method, compared with the values obtained by principal component analysis (PCA). RESULTS: Most selected variables presented a good or excellent degree of completeness for GS and CS, except for clinical classification, pregnant woman's level of education, partner's treatment, and child's race/colour, which were classified as poor or very poor. The overall (89.93% versus 89.69%) and socioeconomic (88.71% versus 88.24%) completeness scores for GS and CS, respectively, were classified as regular, whereas the care score (GS-90.88%, and CS-90.72%) was good, despite improvements over time. Differences in the overall, care and socioeconomic completeness scores according to region, area of residence, and ethnic-racial groups were reported for syphilis notifications. The completeness scores estimated by the weighted average method and PCA showed a strong linear correlation (> 0.90). CONCLUSION: The completeness of GS and CS notifications has been improving in recent years, highlighting the variables that form the care score, compared with the socioeconomic scores, despite differences between regions, area of residence, and ethnic-racial groups. The weighted average was a viable methodological alternative easily operationalised to estimate data completeness scores, allowing routine monitoring of the completeness of gestational and congenital syphilis records. DESCRIPTORS: Health Information Systems. Syphilis, Congenital. Data Accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study aimed to analyze the association between incidence rates for gestational and congenital syphilis and coverage of prenatal care from 2007 to 2017 in the State of Bahia, Brazil. This was an ecological and longitudinal study in which the units of analysis were the municipalities (counties) of the State of Bahia. Secondary data were used, obtained from the databases of the Health Information Systems. Analysis of the association between the incidence rates and prenatal coverage was performed with panel datal, using the fixed model with negative binomial response, controlled for socioeconomic, demographic, and temporal variables. In the multivariate analyses, prenatal coverage showed a statistically significant positive association with gestational syphilis incidence rate, but no association was found with congenital syphilis the incidence rate. Using municipalities with prenatal coverage < 45% as the reference group, the gestational syphilis incidence rate increased by 22% and 25%, respectively, in municipalities with prenatal coverage of 45%-64.9% (RR = 1.22; 95%CI: 1.11-1.33) and ≥ 65% (RR = 1.25; 95%CI: 1.10-1.43). The findings indicate that although the expansion of prenatal coverage in municipalities in Bahia has helped improve the detection of gestational syphilis, it did not impact the congenital syphilis incidence rate. Prenatal care as provided suffers limitations that should be the target of interventions to prevent and block vertical syphilis transmission.

Objective: To describe the completeness and characteristics of reported gestational syphilis and congenital syphilis cases in the state of Bahia, Brazil, between 2007 and 2017., Methods: This was an ecological study using data retrieved from the Notifiable Health Conditions Information System (SINAN). Incidence rates at the macro-regional and state levels and percentage completeness were calculated., Results: 15,050 gestational syphilis cases and 7,812 congenital syphilis cases were identified. The incidence rate varied from 1.3 to 15.1 cases in pregnant women/1,000 live births and from 0.5 to 6.7 cases in infants under 1 year old/1,000 live births. Completeness of 'clinical classification' of gestational syphilis varied from 58.2% to 67.2% in the periods studied., Conclusion: The study showed an increase in incidence rates, flaws in report form completion and the need to implement routine information quality evaluation.