Rising Global Trend of Syphilis and Our Institutional Experience for the Last 12 Years: A Gentle Recite of Syphilis History from Emergence to Speculated Postcoronavirus Disease 2019 Resurgence

Background: Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infectious disease caused by a spirochaete Treponema pallidum . Untreated syphilis may pass through four stages: primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary syphilis. Aim: The aim was to study the clinic-demographic aspects of syphilis patients for the last 12 years pre- and postcoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era in a tertiary care institution. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of all syphilis patients who visited our tertiary care hospital for treatment and referred cases suspected of syphilis from blood bank and antenatal clinic. Details of all these patients were analyzed for age, gender, education, occupation, marital status, staying with family or away from home, high-risk behavior, clinical manifestations in symptomatic patients, stage of syphilis, serology, and treatment given. Results: A total of 97 adult and 2 congenital syphilis patients were diagnosed and treated for syphilis. Latent syphilis was the most common (63, 64.9%) stage of syphilis, followed by secondary syphilis (23, 23.7%). The most common age group involved was 15–30 years, with a median age of 28 years and a male/female ratio of 4/3. Most of the patients (42.2%) were of lower educational status and secondary education or less, followed by higher secondary (39.1%). Extramarital, premarital, and homosexual behavior was reported by 49.4%, 40.2%, and 3.09% of cases, respectively. Twenty (20.6%) patients had other associated sexually transmitted infections in the form of human immunodeficiency virus (7.2%), genital herpes (5.1%), genital warts (6.1%), and genital molluscum and genital warts with candidal balanoposthitis (1%) each. Conclusion: Rising syphilis trends of our institution paralleled the national and global trends with post-COVID-19 surge. Early diagnosis, treatment, and effective counseling are key measures to control syphilis propagation.