This study investigates the effect of offering Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) against HIV, as a public policy, on the spread of syphilis through behavioral changes on the willingness to engage on riskier sex behavior (i.e. condomless sex). To explore such phenomena, a Difference in Differences method is applied to groups of municipalities in the southeastern region of Brazil. No significant effect was found after restricting the sample to approximate the underlying characteristics of the groups. The results do not support the findings of the previous studies, performed on smaller target groups, nor contradict them. The inconclusiveness of the results is likely due to, amongst other factors, the small number of individuals both taking PrEP or diagnosed with syphilis, compared to the general population of the municipalities.

Yes / Background. The spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum ssp. pallidum is the etiological agent of syphilis, a chronic multistage disease. Little is known about the global T. pallidum proteome, therefore mass spectrometry studies are needed to bring insights into pathogenicity and protein expression profiles during infection. Methodology/Principal Findings. To better understand the T. pallidum proteome profile during infection, we studied T. pallidum ssp. pallidum DAL-1 strain bacteria isolated from rabbits using complementary mass spectrometry techniques, including multidimensional peptide separation and protein identification via matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF/TOF) and electrospray ionization (ESI-LTQ-Orbitrap) tandem mass spectrometry. A total of 6033 peptides were detected, corresponding to 557 unique T. pallidum proteins at a high level of confidence, representing 54% of the predicted proteome. A previous gel-based T. pallidum MS proteome study detected 58 of these proteins. One hundred fourteen of the detected proteins were previously annotated as hypothetical or uncharacterized proteins; this is the first account of 106 of these proteins at the protein level. Detected proteins were characterized according to their predicted biological function and localization; half were allocated into a wide range of functional categories. Proteins annotated as potential membrane proteins and proteins with unclear functional annotations were subjected to an additional bioinformatics pipeline analysis to facilitate further characterization. A total of 116 potential membrane proteins were identified, of which 16 have evidence supporting outer membrane localization. We found 8/12 proteins related to the paralogous tpr gene family: TprB, TprC/D, TprE, TprG, TprH, TprI and TprJ. Protein abundance was semi-quantified using label-free spectral counting methods. A low correlation (r = 0.26) was found between previous microarray signal data and protein abundance. Conclusions. This is the most comprehensive description of the global T. pallidum proteome to date. These data provide valuable insights into in vivo T. pallidum protein expression, paving the way for improved understanding of the pathogenicity of this enigmatic organism. / This work was supported by the grants from the Flanders Research Foundation, SOFI-B Grant to CRK, http://www.fwo.be/, a Public Health Service Grant from the National Institutes of Health to CEC, (grant # AI-051334), https://www.nih.gov/ and a grant from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic to DS and MS (P302/12/0574, GP14-29596P), https:// gacr.cz/.

This work identifies and describes pathological skeletal changes associated with and attributable to acquired syphilis and which potentially caused functional impairment within eleven skeletal individuals recovered from five industrial-era London cemeteries. In eight (72.73%), functional impairment was likely or very likely, based on type and distribution of lesions across their skeleton. These impairments likely impacted the individuals’ ability to engage in various forms of physical activity, potentially limiting their economic potential. These results expand our still highly limited understanding of syphilis’s functional impacts within past populations, especially within industrial-era societies, querying longstanding characterizations of tertiary gummatous involvement as benign, while encouraging paleopathological investigations of the functional impacts of syphilis in past populations in which the disease was endemic, such as industrial-era England. Further, with syphilis rates on the rise globally, this information may be informative prognostically for present-day clinical cases of primary to tertiary stage undiagnosed and/or untreated syphilis.

A sífilis permanece como um sério problema de saúde pública, o grande número de casos em gestantes e seus parceiros têm levado ao aumento da sífilis congênita, demonstrando a necessidade de estratégias de prevenção efetivas. O município de Esteio - Rio Grande do Sul foi o local de escolha para a realização deste estudo, por apresentar um número crescente de casos de sífilis congênita e conta em sua rede com a estrutura necessária para o cuidado no prénatal, parto, nascimento, puerpério e atenção à saúde da criança, além de ser um município prioritário para ações de vigilância, prevenção e controle das Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis (IST). Teve como objetivo geral, identificar as potencialidade e fragilidades na Rede de Atenção à Saúde (RAS) do município, no que se refere a educação em saúde e ao cuidado às gestantes e parceiros com sífilis e às crianças com suspeita ou diagnóstico de sífilis congênita. E como objetivos específicos: a) elaborar o mapeamento dos serviços da rede de saúde do município que tenham relação com o atendimento a sífilis em gestante e congênita; b) contribuir com elementos para subsidiar estratégias de educação no que se refere ao enfrentamento da sífilis congênita; c) propor uma metodologia de diagnóstico da rede de saúde que possa ser realizada em outros municípios. O estudo foi desenvolvido através de método qualitativo, tipo estudo de caso. Na primeira etapa, realizou-se pesquisa sobre o município, através de bibliografia, sites institucionais, bancos de dados do Ministério da Saúde, com o objetivo de conhecer e mapear a RAS e também os casos de sífilis congênita por bairros. Na segunda etapa, realizou-se 13 entrevistas individuais com gestores, médicos e enfermeiros da Atenção Básica e maternidade, profissional da Vigilância em Saúde e Agentes Comunitários de Saúde, através de questionário com perguntas semiestruturadas, baseados no caso fictício de uma gestante com sífilis. As entrevistas foram transcritas e organizadas em categorias. Através da análise de discurso, pretendeu-se compreender à percepção dos entrevistados sobre o cuidado da sífilis congênita, frente à realidade municipal. Nos resultados foi possível identificar potencialidade da RAS, onde verificou-se que os trabalhadores têm papel fundamental na participação das políticas de saúde e ensino na saúde, também foi verificada fragilidades, referentes ao financiamento em saúde e a própria estrutura da RAS. Na perspectiva dos entrevistados, emerge a complexidade do cuidado em saúde relacionado a uma IST, vinculada as dimensões técnica, de gestão, política, pedagógica, mas principalmente relacionadas a questões individuais e sociais da população. Por fim, são trazidas as possibilidades para a educação e propostas para o município. / Syphilis remains a serious public health problem, the large incidence in pregnant woman and their partners have driven the increase of the congenital syphilis, thus the need of more effective prevention strategies. The City of Esteio – Rio Grande do Sul was the chosen location to conduct this study, as it only demonstrates an increasing number of cases of congenital syphilis but also has the necessary structure for the prenatal, childbirth, birth, puerperium, and health care, besides it is considered a priority city for surveillance, prevention and control of Sexually Transmittable Diseases (STD). The overall objective of this work is to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the Health Care Networks of Esteio City, in relation to health education and care for pregnant and partners with syphilis end for kids diagnosed or suspected of congenital syphilis. The specific objectives are: a) to map the services of the city’s health network service related with the management of syphilis on pregnant and congenital syphilis; b) to contribute with elements to leverage education strategies concerning coping the congenital syphilis; c) to propose a diagnostic methodology on the health network that can be extended to other cities, with the goal of reducing congenital syphilis. The study used qualitative methodology, like case study. In the first phase, a research was conducted on the city using bibliographic references, institutional sites, Government Health databases, with the objective of understanding and mapping the Health Care Networks as well as the congenital syphilis cases on the neighborhoods. During second phase, were conducted 13 individual interviews with managers, doctors and nurses from the Primary Health and maternity, Health Surveillance Professionals and Community Health Agents, using semi-structured questionnaires, based on a fictional case of a pregnant with syphilis. The interviews were transcribed and organized in categories. The research applied speech analysis to understand the perception of the interviewed around the care of congenital syphilis, in front of the city’s reality. In the results, it was identified the potential of the Health care networks, where the professionals have a fundamental role in the health care policies and health education. The results also demonstrated weaknesses related to health financing and the health care network itself. In the perspective of the interviewed, raises the complexity of the health care related to a STD, in relation to the technical aspects, management, policies, pedagogical, and mainly related to individual and social aspects of the population. Lastly, possibilities for education and proposals for health teaching were raised for the city.

The major goal of this study was to achieve sustained cultivation of virulent T. pallidum in vitro. The putatuive binding of host proteins to the outer membrane (OM) of intact, virulent T. pallidum subsp. pallidum has been investigated. A major breakthrough was the development of a filtration assay, usinglow protein-binding membrane filters, for the measurement of substances bound to or incorporated into th eOM of T. pallidum. This avoided the conventional manipulations which can damage the fragile OM of T. pallidum. Using this filtration assay, studies on the binding of host serum proteins demonstrated that intact treponemes did not bind host proteins as previously reported. It also indicated that previous studies were probably performed with damaged by this research. The studies on the binding of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies to intact and detergent treated treponemes provided evidence of the low level binding of antibody to intact treponemes which was greatly enhanced but the removal of the outer membrane with 0.1% Triton X. This research research corroborated that of others which suggests that the outer membrane of T. pallidum contains very little protein or surface exposed antigen.

A sífilis permanece como um sério problema de saúde pública, o grande número de casos em gestantes e seus parceiros têm levado ao aumento da sífilis congênita, demonstrando a necessidade de estratégias de prevenção efetivas. O município de Esteio - Rio Grande do Sul foi o local de escolha para a realização deste estudo, por apresentar um número crescente de casos de sífilis congênita e conta em sua rede com a estrutura necessária para o cuidado no prénatal, parto, nascimento, puerpério e atenção à saúde da criança, além de ser um município prioritário para ações de vigilância, prevenção e controle das Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis (IST). Teve como objetivo geral, identificar as potencialidade e fragilidades na Rede de Atenção à Saúde (RAS) do município, no que se refere a educação em saúde e ao cuidado às gestantes e parceiros com sífilis e às crianças com suspeita ou diagnóstico de sífilis congênita. E como objetivos específicos: a) elaborar o mapeamento dos serviços da rede de saúde do município que tenham relação com o atendimento a sífilis em gestante e congênita; b) contribuir com elementos para subsidiar estratégias de educação no que se refere ao enfrentamento da sífilis congênita; c) propor uma metodologia de diagnóstico da rede de saúde que possa ser realizada em outros municípios. O estudo foi desenvolvido através de método qualitativo, tipo estudo de caso. Na primeira etapa, realizou-se pesquisa sobre o município, através de bibliografia, sites institucionais, bancos de dados do Ministério da Saúde, com o objetivo de conhecer e mapear a RAS e também os casos de sífilis congênita por bairros. Na segunda etapa, realizou-se 13 entrevistas individuais com gestores, médicos e enfermeiros da Atenção Básica e maternidade, profissional da Vigilância em Saúde e Agentes Comunitários de Saúde, através de questionário com perguntas semiestruturadas, baseados no caso fictício de uma gestante com sífilis. As entrevistas foram transcritas e organizadas em categorias. Através da análise de discurso, pretendeu-se compreender à percepção dos entrevistados sobre o cuidado da sífilis congênita, frente à realidade municipal. Nos resultados foi possível identificar potencialidade da RAS, onde verificou-se que os trabalhadores têm papel fundamental na participação das políticas de saúde e ensino na saúde, também foi verificada fragilidades, referentes ao financiamento em saúde e a própria estrutura da RAS. Na perspectiva dos entrevistados, emerge a complexidade do cuidado em saúde relacionado a uma IST, vinculada as dimensões técnica, de gestão, política, pedagógica, mas principalmente relacionadas a questões individuais e sociais da população. Por fim, são trazidas as possibilidades para a educação e propostas para o município. / Syphilis remains a serious public health problem, the large incidence in pregnant woman and their partners have driven the increase of the congenital syphilis, thus the need of more effective prevention strategies. The City of Esteio – Rio Grande do Sul was the chosen location to conduct this study, as it only demonstrates an increasing number of cases of congenital syphilis but also has the necessary structure for the prenatal, childbirth, birth, puerperium, and health care, besides it is considered a priority city for surveillance, prevention and control of Sexually Transmittable Diseases (STD). The overall objective of this work is to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the Health Care Networks of Esteio City, in relation to health education and care for pregnant and partners with syphilis end for kids diagnosed or suspected of congenital syphilis. The specific objectives are: a) to map the services of the city’s health network service related with the management of syphilis on pregnant and congenital syphilis; b) to contribute with elements to leverage education strategies concerning coping the congenital syphilis; c) to propose a diagnostic methodology on the health network that can be extended to other cities, with the goal of reducing congenital syphilis. The study used qualitative methodology, like case study. In the first phase, a research was conducted on the city using bibliographic references, institutional sites, Government Health databases, with the objective of understanding and mapping the Health Care Networks as well as the congenital syphilis cases on the neighborhoods. During second phase, were conducted 13 individual interviews with managers, doctors and nurses from the Primary Health and maternity, Health Surveillance Professionals and Community Health Agents, using semi-structured questionnaires, based on a fictional case of a pregnant with syphilis. The interviews were transcribed and organized in categories. The research applied speech analysis to understand the perception of the interviewed around the care of congenital syphilis, in front of the city’s reality. In the results, it was identified the potential of the Health care networks, where the professionals have a fundamental role in the health care policies and health education. The results also demonstrated weaknesses related to health financing and the health care network itself. In the perspective of the interviewed, raises the complexity of the health care related to a STD, in relation to the technical aspects, management, policies, pedagogical, and mainly related to individual and social aspects of the population. Lastly, possibilities for education and proposals for health teaching were raised for the city.

A sífilis permanece como um sério problema de saúde pública, o grande número de casos em gestantes e seus parceiros têm levado ao aumento da sífilis congênita, demonstrando a necessidade de estratégias de prevenção efetivas. O município de Esteio - Rio Grande do Sul foi o local de escolha para a realização deste estudo, por apresentar um número crescente de casos de sífilis congênita e conta em sua rede com a estrutura necessária para o cuidado no prénatal, parto, nascimento, puerpério e atenção à saúde da criança, além de ser um município prioritário para ações de vigilância, prevenção e controle das Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis (IST). Teve como objetivo geral, identificar as potencialidade e fragilidades na Rede de Atenção à Saúde (RAS) do município, no que se refere a educação em saúde e ao cuidado às gestantes e parceiros com sífilis e às crianças com suspeita ou diagnóstico de sífilis congênita. E como objetivos específicos: a) elaborar o mapeamento dos serviços da rede de saúde do município que tenham relação com o atendimento a sífilis em gestante e congênita; b) contribuir com elementos para subsidiar estratégias de educação no que se refere ao enfrentamento da sífilis congênita; c) propor uma metodologia de diagnóstico da rede de saúde que possa ser realizada em outros municípios. O estudo foi desenvolvido através de método qualitativo, tipo estudo de caso. Na primeira etapa, realizou-se pesquisa sobre o município, através de bibliografia, sites institucionais, bancos de dados do Ministério da Saúde, com o objetivo de conhecer e mapear a RAS e também os casos de sífilis congênita por bairros. Na segunda etapa, realizou-se 13 entrevistas individuais com gestores, médicos e enfermeiros da Atenção Básica e maternidade, profissional da Vigilância em Saúde e Agentes Comunitários de Saúde, através de questionário com perguntas semiestruturadas, baseados no caso fictício de uma gestante com sífilis. As entrevistas foram transcritas e organizadas em categorias. Através da análise de discurso, pretendeu-se compreender à percepção dos entrevistados sobre o cuidado da sífilis congênita, frente à realidade municipal. Nos resultados foi possível identificar potencialidade da RAS, onde verificou-se que os trabalhadores têm papel fundamental na participação das políticas de saúde e ensino na saúde, também foi verificada fragilidades, referentes ao financiamento em saúde e a própria estrutura da RAS. Na perspectiva dos entrevistados, emerge a complexidade do cuidado em saúde relacionado a uma IST, vinculada as dimensões técnica, de gestão, política, pedagógica, mas principalmente relacionadas a questões individuais e sociais da população. Por fim, são trazidas as possibilidades para a educação e propostas para o município. / Syphilis remains a serious public health problem, the large incidence in pregnant woman and their partners have driven the increase of the congenital syphilis, thus the need of more effective prevention strategies. The City of Esteio – Rio Grande do Sul was the chosen location to conduct this study, as it only demonstrates an increasing number of cases of congenital syphilis but also has the necessary structure for the prenatal, childbirth, birth, puerperium, and health care, besides it is considered a priority city for surveillance, prevention and control of Sexually Transmittable Diseases (STD). The overall objective of this work is to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the Health Care Networks of Esteio City, in relation to health education and care for pregnant and partners with syphilis end for kids diagnosed or suspected of congenital syphilis. The specific objectives are: a) to map the services of the city’s health network service related with the management of syphilis on pregnant and congenital syphilis; b) to contribute with elements to leverage education strategies concerning coping the congenital syphilis; c) to propose a diagnostic methodology on the health network that can be extended to other cities, with the goal of reducing congenital syphilis. The study used qualitative methodology, like case study. In the first phase, a research was conducted on the city using bibliographic references, institutional sites, Government Health databases, with the objective of understanding and mapping the Health Care Networks as well as the congenital syphilis cases on the neighborhoods. During second phase, were conducted 13 individual interviews with managers, doctors and nurses from the Primary Health and maternity, Health Surveillance Professionals and Community Health Agents, using semi-structured questionnaires, based on a fictional case of a pregnant with syphilis. The interviews were transcribed and organized in categories. The research applied speech analysis to understand the perception of the interviewed around the care of congenital syphilis, in front of the city’s reality. In the results, it was identified the potential of the Health care networks, where the professionals have a fundamental role in the health care policies and health education. The results also demonstrated weaknesses related to health financing and the health care network itself. In the perspective of the interviewed, raises the complexity of the health care related to a STD, in relation to the technical aspects, management, policies, pedagogical, and mainly related to individual and social aspects of the population. Lastly, possibilities for education and proposals for health teaching were raised for the city.

L'épidémiologie des infections sexuellement transmissibles (IST) à Mayotte est peu documentée notamment chez les femmes enceintes (FE) et la connaissance des déterminants favorisants les IST sur l'île dans un contexte socio-économique et sanitaire très particulier est nécessaire. Les objectifs de ce travail étaient d'estimer les fréquences et facteurs de risque associées au VIH, au VHB, et à la syphilis, d'étudier la vaccination anti-VHB et de décrire les connaissances, attitudes, croyances et comportements liées aux VIH/SIDA-IST chez les FE. Une étude transversale prospective a été réalisée auprès de 671 FE suivies dans les centres de Protection Maternelle et Infantile (PMI) de Mayotte. Aucun cas de séropositivité au VIH n'a été observé. La prévalence de l'antigène HBs du VHB était de 3,4% et celle de la syphilis active était de 2,1%, mais la prévalence de l'infection au VHB et de la vaccination anti-VHB était respectivement de 35.5% et 18.6%. L'infection par le VHB était associée au lieu de naissance (Comores), à des facteurs comportementaux et à des antécédents d'IST. La syphilis était plutôt associée au manque d'éducation et aux antécédents d'IST. La vaccination anti-VHB était associée à des déterminants sociodémographiques. L'étude socio-comportementale a montré qu'il existe une bonne connaissance du VIH/SIDA-IST chez les FE malgré la pratique de certains comportements sexuels à risque. Ce travail a permis de dresser un état des lieux du VIH et des IST, et de leurs déterminants chez les femmes enceintes à Mayotte, et permettra la mise en place de méthodes de prévention adaptées à ce contexte / The epidemiology of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is poorly documented in Mayotte especially among pregnant women (PW) and knowledge of determinants that increased STI in the island, and in this particular socio-economic and health situation, is needed. The objectives of this study were to estimate the frequency and risk factors associated with HIV, HBV, and syphilis, to study the HBV vaccination and describe the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors related to HIV/AIDS-STIs in PW. A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted among 671 PW followed in Mayotte public prenatal clinic (Protection Maternelle et Infantile (PMI)) services. No case of HIV seropositivity was observed. The prevalence of HBsAg of HBV was 3.4% and of active syphilis was 2.1%, but the prevalence of HBV infection and HBV vaccination was respectively 35.5% and 18.6%. The HBV infection was associated with birthplace (Comoros), behavioral factors and history of STIs. Syphilis was rather associated with lack of education and history of STIs. The HBV vaccination was associated with sociodemographic determinants. The socio-behavioral study showed that there is a good knowledge of HIV/AIDS-STIs in PW despite the practice of some risky sexual behaviors. This work has helped to draw up an update of HIV and STIs, and their determinants among PW in Mayotte, and could lead to the development of prevention methods adapted to this context

Objetivo: descrever o perfil epidemiológico dos casos notificados de sífilis em gestante e sífilis congênita no período 2007-2014 em Palmas-TO, Brasil. Métodos: realizou-se estudo descritivo com dados do Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (Sinan). Resultados: foram identificadas 171 gestantes com sífilis (4,7/1.000 nascidos vivos - NV e 204 casos de sífilis congênita (5,6/1.000 NV); predominaram gestantes pardas (71,3%), com baixa escolaridade (48,0%) e diagnóstico tardio no pré-natal (71,9%); a incidência de sífilis congênita variou de 2,9 a 8,1/1.000 NV no período; predominaram, como características maternas, idade de 20-34 anos (73,5%), escolaridade até o Ensino Médio completo (85,3%), realização de pré-natal (81,4%), diagnóstico da sífilis no pré-natal (48,0%) e parceiros de mães que realizaram pré-natal não tratados (83,0%), alcançando quase 80% de nascidos vivos com sífilis congênita. Conclusão: devido ao alto índice de casos de sífilis gestacional e congênita, faz-se necessária a adoção de novas estratégias para efetividade da assistência pré-natal prestada e consequente redução da incidência dos agravos. / Objective: to describe the epidemiological profile of reported cases of syphilis in pregnant women and congenital syphilis in the period 2007-2014 in Palmas-TO, Brazil. Methods: this is a descriptive study with data from the Information System for Notifiable Diseases (Sinan). Results: 171 pregnant women with syphilis (4.7/1,000 live births [LB]) and 204 cases of congenital syphilis (5.6/1,000 LB) were identified; most women were brownskinned (71.3%), had low education level (48.0%) and received late diagnosis during prenatal care (71.9%); the incidence of congenital syphilis varied from 2.9 to 8.1/1,000 LB in the period; the predominant maternal characteristics were age from 20 to 34 years (73.5%), having up to complete high school (85.3%), attending prenatal care (81.4%), diagnosis of syphilis during prenatal care (48.0%), and untreated partners of mothers who attended prenatal care (83.0%), reaching almost 80% of live births with congenital syphilis. Conclusion: Due to the high rate of gestational and congenital syphilis, it is necessary to adopt new strategies for the effectiveness of the prenatal care provided, and, consequently, to reduce the incidence of congenital syphilis.

Thesis (Dr. P.H.)--University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, 2007. / "May 2007." Includes bibliographical references.