Underreporting of gestational, congenital and acquired syphilis among indigenous peoples in Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil, 2011-2014.

OBJECTIVE

to describe the distribution, incidence, and underreporting of syphilis among indigenous peoples from Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

METHODS

descriptive study performed with secondary data of the Information System for Notifiable Diseases (Sinan) and of the Special Indigenous Sanitary District of Mato Grosso do Sul (DSEI-MS), from 2011 to 2014; the data from both sources were compared to identify underreporting.

RESULTS

the highest incidence rates of syphilis in pregnant women were observed in 2014 (41.1/1,000 live births) and of congenital syphilis, in 2013 (10.7/1,000 live births); the highest numbers of underreporting of cases were for syphilis in pregnant women on Sinan (45/79), of congenital syphilis at DSEI-MS (8/17) in 2014, and of acquired syphilis on Sinan in 2011 and 2013 (5/9 and 10/18, respectively).

CONCLUSION

syphilis has a high incidence; underreporting hides the extent of the disease in indigenous peoples from Mato Grosso do Sul.