Epidemiology of syphilis among female sex workers and pregnant women during a period of increasing syphilis among women in Japan, 2019-2021

Japan has been facing an unprecedented increase in syphilis, largely among women who have sex with men and men who have sex with women.1–3 Notifications among women have increased >15-fold over the past decade (figure 1A),1 2 and female sex worker (FSW) status has been found to be associated with incident syphilis.4 These epidemiological trends necessitate urgent action to prevent transmission and adverse consequences, including the risk of congenital syphilis due to infections among pregnant women.

Figure 1

(A) Trends of reported syphilis cases among women, women reporting FSW status and pregnant women, Japan, 2010–2021. Proportion of syphilis cases among women by stage, Japan, 2010–2021. (B) Cases with FSW status. (C) Cases among pregnant women. Seventy cases (1%) were reported as both FSW status and pregnant. FSW, female sex worker.

In Japan, all laboratory-confirmed cases of…

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