State health officials are encouraging pregnant people to test for syphilis. That guidance comes as the number of children born with syphilis, which can be passed from parent to child during pregnancy, has reached its highest level since 1990.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, 36 cases of congenital syphilis have been reported so far in 2022; two-thirds of those cases were found in Philadelphia.
The total number is six times greater than that reported statewide between 2013 to 2017 and coincides with a rise in newborn syphilis rates over the last decade. Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that between 2011 and 2020 the statewide syphilis rate for newborns rose from 3.3 cases per 100,000 live births to 10.4 cases.
“This is a condition that is alarming, that can cause miscarriages and fetal death, or lifelong issues for the child and is completely preventable,” said Pennsylvania Physician General Denise Johnson.
Infections in infants can also cause brain or nerve problems, low birth weight and bone deformities.
Johnson said repeated testing is key to prevention. DOH guidance states pregnant people should get tested during their first prenatal visit, as well as during their third trimester and delivery.
Once diagnosed, syphilis is easily treated with antibiotics, Johnson added. That can then prevent serious complications during pregnancy.
Johnson stressed that all people—not just those who are pregnant—must take steps to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections. Syphilis rates continue to rise among women of childbearing age, jumping from 29 in 2010 to 211 in 2021, according to Johnson.
While health officials have yet to identify a reason for the surge, they say some groups are at a higher risk of contracting it. That includes those people who are incarcerated, experiencing homelessness and without health insurance.
“If we can find ways to get access to those people so they can avoid any infection, so they can be treated, so they can be screened properly, I think we'd be doing a very, very, very tremendous job,” said Hubert Foka, a Harrisburg-area obstetrician and gynecologist.
The DOH says babies who have congenital syphilis should be treated right away, either through an antibiotic injection or over the course of several days in a hospital.
