Serological Aspects of a Syphilis-Control Programme in the Ghund Area, Himachal Pradesh, India.

The general health conditions and the clinical prevalence of syphilis have been dealt with in detail in an earlier paper; here it is sufficient to note that primary and secondary syphilitic lesions were found in about 5% of all the adults examined and that modern treatment of syphilis had been received by very few persons--a factor of considerable importance in evaluating the results of the mass-treatment scheme. The prevalence of the disease as determined clinically seemed to correspond well with the high percentage of seropositivity revealed by the tests (about 40%). In this connexion it should be stressed that diseases which tend to produce biological false-positive syphilitic reactions such as malaria and leprosy were rarely observed in the surveys. (excerpt)