Grant: Catalyst Grant: STBBI Research in Canada: Beyond HIV/AIDS/Hepatitis C - Syphilis

Infectious syphilis is a potentially devastating sexually transmitted infection that has recently had a resurgence in North America. In the Canadian prairies (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba), syphilis mainly impacts young, urban, heterosexual, highly marginalized young adult populations. The prairie provinces have the highest syphilis rates in Canada, and also the highest number of congenital syphilis, or infants born with syphilis. Any occurence of congenital syphilis is thought to be a public health failure in high-income countries. There has been a lack of published studies examining syphilis in the Canadian prairies; thus, at a time when evidence is most needed to inform public health efforts to control syphilis, a dearth existis in the literature. At the same time, new technologies, such as molecular epidemiology and data science offer never-before-seen potential to unlock the epidemiology of syphilis, and why it appears in certain groups. Moreover, community perspectives towards syphilis, and new technologies has not been integrated into research and practice. Partnering with public health from the 3 prairie provinces, and researchers from Canada, US, and Europe, the projects in this proposal seek to address this gap in the literature, while also building a multilevel, action-oriented embedded research agenda on syphilis. The study aims include: 1) engage impacted communities to inform ongoing and future syphilis research; 2) describe and compare the epidemiology of syphilis in Alberta and Manitoba; 3) understand the healthcare utilization patterns of individuals diagnosed with syphilis in Manitoba; 4) establish molecular epidemiology capacity for syphilis. We anticipate generating novel and innovative insights into syphilis epidemiology, providing new data and knowledge that can be used to address current syphilis epidemics, and establishing an infrastructure for future STBBI research