The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG ) advises that all pregnant women have their syphilis tested three times during pregnancy. Given that children have a higher incidence of syphilis in recent years, the suggestion is urgent. In it ‘s , process consulting, ACOG calls for three checks, once at the first antenatal care visit and again in the third week and again at conception.
A recent , report , from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that looks at sexually transmitted infections reveals while instances of various STIs, like syphilis and chlamydia, have decreased or seen reasonable increases,  , syphilis , has jumped 80 % in the four decades from 2018 to 2022.
In the last ten years or more, there have been nearly eightfold more cases of congenital syphilis, and we are aware of the crucial role that obstetricians, gynecologists, and other obstetric care clinicians play, according to Christopher Zahn, MD, FACOG, interim CEO and head of clinical practice and health equity and quality. While we support the sexually transmitted infection treatment recommendations from the CDC, ACOG’s new guidance will not adopt a risk-based testing strategy for pregnancy-related testing and treatment, but rather will increase the chances of testing and treatment.
Dr. Stacey Rizza, a Mayo Clinic infectious diseases specialist, says syphilis is a bacterial infection that is primarily transmitted through sexual contact. However, she claims that a pregnant mother may also transmit it to the child.
” So if a mother has syphilis, whether she knows it or not, while she’s pregnant and is not diagnosed and treated, she can transmit that to her fetus, and the baby can be born with syphilis”, says Dr. Rizza. This is also known as congenital syphilis, and according to the CDC report, cases of syphilis among newborns rose 183 % between 2018 and 2022.
Dr. Rizza says the baby may be born asymptomatic,” but can go on to develop manifestations of syphilis later, within weeks, months or even years, after they’re born. But, unfortunately, many times it causes abnormalities in the baby, even when they’re born. They may have abnormalities in their liver and spleen, rashes, and other changes to the structure of their faces, brains, and especially those that affect the eyes.
If you are expecting or have recently given birth, and you suspect you may be infected, Dr. Rizza encourages testing as soon as possible. ” So we can treat them while we’re pregnant and keep them from coming into the baby’s body.” And if somebody is born with syphilis, whether they have manifestations of it or not, we want to make sure we diagnose it quickly and treat it, so they do n’t go on to have further manifestations”, she says.
A blood test is used to determine the diagnosis. If positive, treatment with the antibiotic penicillin has proven effective.
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