In a prospective study the prevalence of syphilis amongst a group of pregnant Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong was found to be 3.4%. No cases of gonorrhoea, genital warts or genital ulcers were found in the same group of patients. The implications of these results are discussed and the importance of adequate screening, treatment, contact tracing and health education amongst this group are emphasized.For 4 months in 1989, health care practitioners screened 179 pregnant Vietnamese refugees who visited the antenatal booking clinic in Hong Kong for syphilis and gonorrhea. Due to insufficient culture medium or unavailability of investigators, however, they only took urethral and endocervical swabs for gonorrhea from 158 patients. No patient tested positive for gonorrhea. This surprised the investigators, since gonorrhea is more common in developing countries than industrialized countries. Perhaps the patients had been previously treated for gonorrhea with the antibiotics kanamycin or spectinomycin neither of which stop simultaneously occurring incubating syphilis. After an initial positive venereal diseases research laboratory (VDRL) test for syphilis, laboratory personnel confirmed the results using the fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption test. After a positive finding and if the VDRL titre increased between 2 consecutive tests, practitioners made a positive diagnosis. They then examined the seropositive women. No patient exhibited tissue paper scarring of the skin which is indicative of yaws. Practitioners identified 6 pregnant women (3.4%) positive for syphilis. This prevalence is much greater than syphilis prevalence in the UK and the USA. Even though data on any sexually transmitted disease (STD) in Vietnam does not exist in Western literature, the investigators theorize that the prevalence rate among these refugees in Hong Kong emulates that in Vietnam. Hong Kong did not provide for contact tracing within the refugee camps. The practitioners did not take the opportunity to educate the women about STDs.

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Reproduction Research Methodology Vietnam Infections Obstacles population Reproductive Tract Infections Migrants Pregnancy Complications, Infectious Population Dynamics Prospective Studies Developing Countries human Refugees Asia measurement priority journal Eastern Asia screening sexually transmitted disease Sexually Transmitted Diseases kanamycin gonorrhea Diseases female Viet Nam spectinomycin pregnancy Syphilis penicillin G prevalence Article Organization And Administration major clinical study migration Examinations And Diagnoses Southeastern Asia Demographic Factors Hong Kong