Syphilis is a chronic infectious disease that has created challenging situations for humanity for centuries. Transmission can occur sexually or vertically, with great repercussions on populations, particularly among women and children. The present study presents information on the main burden imposed by syphilis generated by the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019 for Brazil and its 27 federated units.
In Brazil, the disease burden increased between 2005 and 2019 for all metrics. Although a higher incidence of syphilis was found among women in 2019, DALYs [YLLs (males 15.9%; females 21.8%), YLDs (males 25.0%; females 50.0%), and DALYs (males 16.2%; females 22.4%)] were higher among men. In 2019, the highest DALY rate per 100,000 inhabitants was observed in individuals aged above 50 years. The State of Maranhão presented the highest values of DALYs {1990 165.2 [95% uncertainty interval (UI) 96.2-264.4]; 2005 43.8 [95% UI 30.3-62.4]; 2019 29.1 [95% UI 19.8-41.1]} per 100,000 inhabitants in the three years analyzed.