Dramatic Increase in Infant Syphilis Cases

The number of babies born with syphilis is sharply on the rise after 14 years of declines, the CDC reported.

Congenital syphilis cases jumped 23% from 2005 to 2008 (8.2 to 10.1 cases per 100,000 live births), found J.R. Su, MD, of the CDC's National Center for HIV, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues.

The reason appeared to be a 38% increase in the rate of primary and secondary syphilis among women ages 10 and older from 2004 to 2007, they wrote in the April 16 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

More U.S. babies born with syphilis, report finds

The troubling trend reverses a 14-year decline and shows the infection, already on the uptick among gay and bisexual men, is worsening in the heterosexual community, the team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

If a woman is infected with syphilis while pregnant, her baby can be born dead, deaf, with other nerve damage or bone deformities. Antibiotic treatment at least a month before birth can prevent that.

Rise in syphilis, cuts in funding a worry in Philadelphia

A spike in syphilis cases and sharp cuts in state funding to Philadelphia for HIV/AIDS are presenting a challenge to public-health workers tasked with preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Infectious syphilis rose 45 percent in the city last year, with far greater increases among women - a group whose reported cases, while still small, barely registered until recently.