According to ‘terrible’ CDC report, cases of syphilis in BABIES have increased tenfold in the past decade to a record high
Over the past decade, the number of cases of syphilis in infants in the US has increased tenfold, reaching more than 3,700 hundred cases by 2022.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported Tuesday that there were 3,761 cases of congenital syphilis last year, a 31.7 percent increase from 2021 and 10 times as many cases as the 334 reported in 2012.
This increase in cases led to 231 stillbirths and 51 infant deaths last year.
CDC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Debra Houry said, “The congenital syphilis crisis in the United States has skyrocketed at a heartbreaking pace. New actions are needed to prevent more family tragedies.
We call on health care providers, public health systems and communities to take additional steps to provide mothers and babies with the care they need.”
The CDC attributes the rise in cases to poor access to screening and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, as well as cuts to public health and sexual health budgets.
Congenital syphilis cases were highest among the Black and African American community, increasing from 362 in 2017 to 885 in 2021
Between 2017 and 2021, the number of cases of congenital syphilis (CS) almost tripled, from 941 to 2,855. They continued to rise in 2022, with 3,761 cases last year
The agency said 88 percent of congenital syphilis cases last year could have been prevented with better access to clinics, prenatal care and treatments.
In the vast majority of cases of congenital syphilis, pregnant women were not tested for the STD and 38 percent of infected pregnant women did not receive prenatal care.
More than half of the cases of congenital syphilis involved people who tested positive for the STD during pregnancy, but did not receive proper or timely care.
Congenital syphilis, a sexually transmitted infection that occurs when an infected mother passes the STD to her baby during pregnancy, was nearly eradicated in the U.S. at the turn of the century, but started to rise again about a decade ago.
The rise in the number of STDs in babies parallels the rise in the number of syphilis cases among women – between 2021 and 2022, the number of syphilis cases among 15 to 44-year-olds will increase by 17.2 percent.
Congenital syphilis increases a child’s risk for bone damage, anemia, jaundice, nerve damage and meningitis.
The disease kills about 40 percent of babies born with it, but treatment is possible with medication.
Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC’s National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, said, “The congenital syphilis epidemic is an unacceptable American crisis. All pregnant mothers – no matter who they are or where they live – deserve access to care that protects them and their babies from preventable diseases.
“Our country should be proactive and think beyond the gynecologist’s office and bridge the prevention gaps. Every encounter a health care provider has with a patient during pregnancy is an opportunity to prevent congenital syphilis.”
The CDC said one of the biggest risks for syphilis is where the person lives.
More than 70 percent of the U.S. population lived in counties believed to have elevated STD cases, according to 2021 data
Syphilis in women can be treated with the drug Bicillin LA, which can prevent the mother from passing the disease to the fetus.
However, there is a nationwide shortage of the drug and the manufacturer, Pfizer, does not expect the shortage to be resolved before 2024, which is partly to blame for the boom in cases, which has dramatically increased demand.
Last month, health advocates called on President Joe Biden to declare a public health emergency due to the increase in cases of congenital syphilis.
By declaring a public health emergency, the president could use the Defense Production Act to produce more Bicillin LA.