Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum and, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is one of the most frequent STIs worldwide. The disease may progress to neurosyphilis, when it affects the nervous system, its most severe form, leading to hospitalization with high hospital costs and potentially evolving to death. Up to 50% of untreated pregnant women may experience severe complications such as intrauterine death or neonatal death. Thus, this study aimed to describe the epidemiological profile of acquired syphilis in the state of Pará between 2017 and 2023. Cross-sectional, retrospective epidemiological study with a quantitative approach, using secondary data from the electronic platform of the Health Information Department of the Brazilian Unified Health System (DATASUS) on the epidemiological profile of acquired syphilis in Pará. Data were collected and analyzed using Microsoft Excel. The variables “Year of notification,” “Sex,” and “Age group” were analyzed for the period. Between 2017 and 2023, 22,690 cases of acquired syphilis were reported in Pará. The year with the highest number of notifications was 2023, with 5,435 new cases, corresponding to 23.93% of all cases in the period. There was a marked increase in cases in the last two years, with growth of 28.09% in 2022 and 22.63% in 2023. Over the seven years analyzed, the mean annual growth in cases was 23.36%. The only year with a reduction in cases was 2021, with a decrease of 14.81%, likely due to missed diagnoses or underreporting during the pandemic. The most affected sex was male, representing 58.7%, compared with 41.1% female and 0.2% recorded as unknown. This is noteworthy because the difference between the sexes increased from 2022 to 2023: the excess number of cases in men rose from 732 to 1,020, a 39.34% increase compared with Brazil overall, where this difference grew only 7.68%. The average annual growth of this difference during the period was 29.14% in Pará, versus 18.05% for the Brazilian average. The most affected age group was 20–39 years with 12,813 cases (56.45%), followed by 40–59 years with 5,548 cases (24.45%). The number of syphilis cases in Pará is high and increasing, especially among men.
Anjos et al. (2026) studied this question.