The Implications of Maternal Diagnosis of Syphilis

Over the past decade, there’s been about a 700% increase in the cases of congenital syphilis in the United States. That’s 700%! Rates of congenital syphilis, meaning the number of cases for every 100,000 live births, are highest in the South and Southwest, in states such as Arizona, New Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Individual states have seen increases that are even more astounding. From 2016 to 2021, cases shot up 3,300% in Mississippi, nearly 3,000% in Oklahoma, more than 2,200% in Hawaii, more than 1,800% in Washington, more than 1,600% in New Mexico, according to CDC data . "Clinical Pearls" has covered screening and diagnosis of maternal syphilis in past episodes; one past episode focused on the traditional and the now-favored reverse sequence algorithms. You can find that episode in our archives from July 03, 2022. Do you know what the CDC calls “inadequate treatment” for congenital syphilis prevention? Having recently had concern for a child born at high risk of congenital syphilis, in this episode we will focus on the vertical transmission of syphilis and congenital syphilis (CS) and provide several clinical pearls related to this subject.