The worrying surge in sexually transmitted infections in the United States is having catastrophic consequences. American health authorities sounded the alert on Tuesday, November 8, regarding the increase in cases of syphilis among newborns, multiplied by ten in ten years.
More than 3,700 babies will be born with syphilis in the United States in 2022, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the main federal health agency in the United States. This is around ten times more than in 2012. According to the New York Times, the disease caused 231 stillbirths and 51 infant deaths.
The vast majority of cases could be avoided
Syphilis is developed by infants when the mother herself is infected and left untreated. In a pregnant woman, it can lead to miscarriages, death of the newborn, or long-term complications for the baby, such as loss of vision or hearing, or even bone malformations.
More than 90% of cases in 2022 could have been avoided thanks to timely screening and treatment during pregnancy, according to the agency. According to the New York Times, among the cases counted in 2022, “nearly 38% of the 3,700 babies were born to women who did not receive prenatal care. Among women who had at least one prenatal appointment, 30% were never tested for syphilis or were tested too late.”
Syphilis is easily treated with antibiotics, which can be administered safely during pregnancy. “Properly timed treatment can prevent almost all cases of congenital syphilis,” explains to the American media ABC News Dr. Alok Patel. “Thus, any case of syphilis in a newborn represents a failure to access health care.”
Minorities eight times more affected
Black, Native American or Hispanic babies were also up to eight times more likely to be born with syphilis than babies with white mothers in 2021, point out the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control. A finding that the agency attributes to “decades of deeply rooted social determinants”, creating more obstacles to access to care.
Related to a combination of individual and systemic factors, barriers to testing and treatment “may include a lack of health coverage, living in a medical or gynecological care desert, difficulties accessing transportation, difficulties related drug use, unstable housing, poverty and racism,” says Laura Bachmann, head of STI prevention at the CDC.
This network of agencies in the United States calls on health professionals to use “exceptional measures”. That is to say, all opportunities to screen pregnant women, such as visits to emergency rooms, in programs related to drug consumption or in prison. The CDC recommends testing for syphilis during all initial medical visits for an affected pregnancy, as well as retesting at 28 weeks and at delivery for those most at risk. According to the medical agency, treatment should also be administered automatically when a rapid test proves positive in a pregnant woman, pending a confirmatory test.