ArticleThe Medical journal of Australia2023
Infectious syphilis in women and heterosexual men in major Australian cities: sentinel surveillance data, 2011-2019.
Article in The Medical journal of Australia, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Trial
- Putative mechanisms of ocular inflammation in syphilis.Journal of ophthalmic inflammation and infection · 2026Review
- An exploratory intersectional analysis of lifetime syphilis prevalence among people who inject drugs in Montreal, Canada.Sexually transmitted diseases · 2026Article
- Healthcare Professionals' Perspectives on the Direct Referral Pathway for Syphilis Management in Western Sydney.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Article
- Neurosyphilis Presenting as Rapid Cognitive Decline With Demonstrated Improvement Posttreatment: A Case Report.Case reports in infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Spatiotemporal trends and determinants of syphilis among heterosexual males and females in the Netherlands, 2011 to 2023.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2025Article
- Syphilis testing, incidence, and reinfection among gay and bisexual men in Australia over a decade spanning HIV PrEP implementation: an analysis of surveillance data from 2012 to 2022.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2024Article
- Increased syphilis testing and detection of late latent syphilis among women after switching from risk-based to opt-out testing strategy in an urban Australian sexual health clinic: a retrospective observational study.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2023Article
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Abstract
objectivesTo examine changes in the positive infectious syphilis test rate among women and heterosexual men in major Australian cities, and rate differences by social, biomedical, and behavioural determinants of health. DESIGN,
settingAnalysis of data extracted from de-identified patient records from 34 sexual health clinics participating in the Australian Collaboration for Coordinated Enhanced Sentinel Surveillance of Sexually Transmissible Infections and Blood Borne Viruses (ACCESS).
participantsFirst tests during calendar year for women and heterosexual men aged 15 years or more in major cities who attended ACCESS sexual health clinics during 2011-2019.
main outcome measuresPositive infectious syphilis test rate; change in annual positive test rate.
results180 of 52 221 tested women (0.34%) and 239 of 36 341 heterosexual men (0.66%) were diagnosed with infectious syphilis. The positive test rate for women was 1.8 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.9-3.2) per 1000 tests in 2011, 3.0 (95% CI, 2.0-4.2) per 1000 tests in 2019 (change per year: rate ratio [RR], 1.12; 95% CI, 1.01-1.25); for heterosexual men it was 6.1 (95% CI, 3.8-9.2) per 1000 tests in 2011 and 7.6 (95% CI, 5.6-10) per 1000 tests in 2019 (RR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.03-1.17). In multivariable analyses, the positive test rate was higher for women (adjusted RR [aRR], 1.85; 95% CI, 1.34-2.55) and heterosexual men (aRR, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.53-3.74) in areas of greatest socio-economic disadvantage than for those in areas of least socio-economic disadvantage. It was also higher for Indigenous women (aRR, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.22-4.70) and for women who reported recent injection drug use (aRR, 4.87; 95% CI, 2.18-10.9) than for other women; it was lower for bisexual than heterosexual women (aRR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.29-0.81) and for women who reported recent sex work (aRR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.29-0.44). The positive test rate was higher for heterosexual men aged 40-49 years (aRR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.42-3.12) or more than 50 years (aRR, 2.36; 95% CI, 1.53-3.65) than for those aged 15-29 years.
conclusionThe positive test rate among both urban women and heterosexual men tested was higher in 2019 than in 2011. People who attend reproductive health or alcohol and drug services should be routinely screened for syphilis.
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