Frequency of syphilis in female sex workers at red light area of Hyderabad, Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of syphilis in female sex workers (FSWs) at red light area of Hyderabad. METHODS This study was conducted on female sex workers at red light area of Hyderabad, Pakistan during 2003. All female subjects who were between 17-35 years of age were evaluated and enrolled in the study. All such subjects were screened. for Treponema pallidum infection/syphilis by Treponema Pallidum Haemagglutination assay (TPHA). The frequency was determined by identifying the positive Treponema pallidum infected patients. For getting results the data was saved and analyzed in SPSS version 10.00. RESULTS Total fifty (50) female sex workers were studied; their mean age was 26.22 +/- 4.47 years. Syphilis was identified in 22 (44%) females with mean age of 22.68 +/-1.46 years while remaining 28 (56%) with mean age 29.00 +/- 4.06 years were free from syphilis (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION The female sex workers are prone and at risk to acquire sexual transmitted infections (STI), therefore for control and preventive measures, screening programmes should be initialized.