Acquired Syphlis by Non Sexual Contact

Descriptive Cohort of Acquired Syphlis by Non Sexual Contact

Syphilis is classically described as a sexually transmitted disease. As this source of contagious has been described long ago -mainly though by observation- when children presents with acquired syphilis, child abuse is always considered and must be ruled out by specialists in a careful evaluation.

However, muco-cutaneous lesions can be a contagious source for congenital syphilis; therefore the possibility of non-sexual transmission through intimate contact with infected people through humid lesions (such as in kisses, breastfeeding, food-handling) or contaminated fomites (towels, bed sheets, underwear, cups, pacifiers, cutlery) could be considered. Experts worldwide have observed this non-sexual transmission, as described in many reports in literature.

The investigators will study retrospectively patients from a cohort with non-sexual transmission. The diagnosis criteria used for acquired syphilis were as follows: age under 18 years with treponemic and nontreponemic positive tests, secondary-syphilis suspicious lesions and negative maternal syphilis serology. Nonsexual contagious was defined as contacts without physical and psychosocial indicators of sexual abuse according to current guides. In this cohort, in every case a psychosocial evaluation was completed with a written report in order to evaluate sexual contact probability.

The teamo will describe these patients clinical and laboratory findings, family and close acquaintances serologies and probable source of contagious.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Syphilis Infection; Syphilis Acquired

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 24

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Argentina
  • Capital Federal
    • Buenos Aires, Capital Federal, Argentina, 1425
      • Hospital de Niños Ricardo Gutierrez

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 1 second to 18 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: N/A
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Children from 0 to 18 years of age assisted at Parasitoloy and Chagas department from Children's Hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Description

INCLUSION CRITERIA:

- Children with treponemic and non-treponemic positive tests with primary or secondary-syphilis suspicious lesions

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

- Children with diagnose criteria positive for Congenital syphilis

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Describe diagnose process of a cohort of children with assumed non-sexual acquired syphilis	Describe the interdisciplinary approach of patients with acquired syphilis and how non-sexual transmission was assumed	Past 20 years
Describe serology titers from patients with non - sexually acquired syphilis and from their close contacts	Investigators will report serology titers from patients with non - sexually acquired syphilis at diagnose and follow-up until cure, and from their close contacts at diagnose and during follow up of those resulting positive at contact screening	Past 20 years
Describe reported symptoms and physical findings at diagnose and during follow-up f children with assumed non-sexual acquired syphilis and their close contacts	Investigators will describe symptoms and physical findings from patients with non - sexually acquired syphilis at diagnose and follow-up until cure, and from their close contacts at diagnose and during follow up of those resulting positive at contact screening	Past 20 years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hospital de Niños R. Gutierrez de Buenos Aires
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Guillermo Moscatelli, MD, Principal Investigator

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 15, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 15, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): May 15, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 29, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 29, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): July 2, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 1, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 28, 2023
• Last Verified: February 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Infections; Communicable Diseases; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections; Bacterial Infections; Bacterial Infections and Mycoses; Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Bacterial; Spirochaetales Infections; Treponemal Infections; Syphilis
• Other Study ID Numbers: Si non sexual

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No