Syphilis during pregnancy is a serious issue. It can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant death. Babies born with syphilis can face lifelong medical issues. This is why screening for syphilis is recommended for all pregnant patients, so infections can be found and treated.
As CDC notes, there were many missed opportunities to prevent newborn syphilis. For example, 2 in 5 (40%) people who had a baby with syphilis did not get prenatal care. Some pregnant patients were not screened for syphilis or were not treated after testing positive. Overall, 9 in 10 cases of newborn syphilis in 2022 might have been prevented with timely testing and treatment.
There are also clear disparities in newborn syphilis cases. In 2021, babies born to Black, Hispanic, or American Indian/Alaska Native mothers were up to 8 times more likely to have newborn syphilis than babies born to white mothers. These disparities stem from unfair and unjust systems, policies, and practices.
Newborn syphilis is a preventable problem. As the CDC states in its report, “Increasing rates of syphilis among babies reflect a failure of the U.S. health system.”
While there are large, systemic problems that play a role, like institutional racism and lack of access of care, there are clear steps that can be taken. CDC has offered guidance to health care providers and health departments on timely testing and treatment.
Read more about syphilis prevention, testing, and treatment here.
There is a shortage of the only eye ointment to protect newborns from potentially serious eye infection that can be caused by chlamydia, gonorrhea, or other bacteria transmitted from parent-to-infant during birth.
The Oklahoma House recently passed a bill making it a crime to intentionally or recklessly spread several STIs. Those found guilty would be convicted of a felony and punished with between two and five years in prison.
Diagnosing and Managing Genital Herpes A two-part conversation with Terri Warren, RN, ANP In this two-part episode of ASHA’s Sex+Health podcast, Terri Warren, RN, ANP—nurse, author, and owner of Westover
Doxy-PEP is the strategy of taking the antibiotic doxycycline after condomless oral or anal sex to prevent chlamydia, gonorrhea, or syphilis.
New studies add to our evidence that Doxy-PEP is working to prevent bacterial STIs among transgender women and men who have sex with men.
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a serious infection in the upper genital tract/reproductive organs (uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries) of women. PID can be sexually transmitted
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