There are millions of waste pickers worldwide that are predominantly located in low- and middle-income countries. They survive on sorting and selling reusable or recyclable materials discarded by society. While sorting, they are exposed to occupational risks and hazards, including cuts from sharp objects and medical wastes, that could be contaminated by infectious diseases. Because of these exposures, a study was conducted to determine the prevalence of syphilis and other sexually transmitted infections (STI’s) among waste pickers. A cross-sectional study using a semi-structured questionnaire and blood samples for serological tests were collected. A total of 1,025 waste pickers were interviewed. Most participants were women (67.54%), without a partner (70.11%), were an average of 40 years old, and had between 3 and 4 children. There were 755 samples collected for syphilis, 791 for HIV, 866 for hepatitis B, and 859 for hepatitis C. Of these samples, 28 (3.70%) waste pickers had reagent serology for syphilis, 6 (0.75%) for HIV; 6 (0.69%) for acute hepatitis B and 1 (0.11%) for hepatitis C. Overall, this study identified the serological status of waste pickers; this information can be used to encourage waste pickers to seek health treatment for STIs and receive education to understand the risks associated with being exposed to medical waste or syringes.

全球有数以百万计的拾荒者主要分布在中低收入国家。他们靠分类和出售被社会丢弃的可重复使用或可回收材料生存。进行分类时，它们面临职业风险和危害，包括可能被传染病污染的尖锐物品和医疗废物造成的割伤。由于存在这些暴露，因此进行了一项研究，以确定废物收集者中梅毒和其他性传播感染（STI）的患病率。收集了使用半结构化问卷和血液样本进行血清学检测的横断面研究。总共采访了1,025名废物收集者。大多数参与者是女性（67.54％），没有伴侣（70.11％），平均年龄为40岁，有3至4个孩子。共收集了755份梅毒样本，791份HIV样本，866份B肝炎样本和859份C肝炎样本。在这些样本中，有28份（3.70％）废物捡拾者具有梅毒试剂血清学，6份（0.75％）艾滋病毒。急性乙型肝炎为6（0.69％），丙型肝炎为1（0.11％）。总的来说，这项研究确定了废物收集器的血清学状况。此信息可用于鼓励废物收集者为性传播感染寻求医疗保健，并接受教育以了解与医疗废物或注射器接触所带来的风险。