title: Cost-effectiveness of antenatal screening for syphilis.
abstract: Routine obstetric screening for all prenatal checkups is an important issue. A study was conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of an antenatal screening program for syphilis. Charts of pregnant women for a 9-year period from 1982 to 1990 at the American University of Beirut were reviewed. Demographic data and the results of screening for syphilis were collected. In a total of 23,145 patients screened (with a biological false-positive rate of 0.3%), serological evidence of Treponema pallidum infection occurred in 0.27% of patients. The outcome in infants was satisfactory in all cases where appropriate antibiotic therapy was instituted antenatally. Thus antenatal screening for syphilis in our setting is a cost-effective program.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abyad
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000191:economics*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000097:blood*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000191:economics*; D013587:Syphilis / Q000097:blood*