Pa. issues alert after increase in babies born with syphilis

Pennsylvania is on pace to have another year of historically high congenital syphilis cases, prompting the state Health Department to send an alert to health providers Wednesday.

Last year, seven babies in the state were born with syphilis, the highest number of cases in more than 24 years. And in the first nine months of 2019, there have been five cases, which follows a national trend. The data do not include cases in Philadelphia.

The alert recommended health workers offer syphilis tests to pregnant women at the first prenatal visit, at the third trimester and at delivery. The department is also recommending that sexually active women of childbearing age routinely take a test for sexually transmitted diseases.

Syphilis cases in general have shot up in Allentown, Bethlehem and across the state, where cases quadrupled from 2003 to 2017 to nearly 800.

Women with untreated syphilis risk giving birth to stillborns, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Babies with congenital syphilis may suffer from bone damage, severe anemia, enlarged liver and spleen, jaundice, nerve problems causing blindness or deafness, meningitis or skin rashes.

Across the country, congenital syphilis is rising. In 2015, there were 492 cases. By 2017, there were 918.

Syphilis is transmitted through contact with an infected sore during sex. If untreated, sores will advance to rashes, swollen lymph nodes and fevers. The most serious symptoms include organ damage, paralysis, dementia and death. Syphilis can be treated with penicillin.

Health officials attribute the rise in syphilis and other STDs to declining awareness and concern, especially as medical advancements have made once-deadly diseases like HIV treatable.