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.