Syphilis has made a comeback in China

According to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine on May 6, 2010 that on an average over one baby is being born with congenital syphilis in China for a total of 9480 cases in 2008. About 50% of babies conceived by women with syphilis die before they are born. Of those born alive about 50% will die in the first year of life unless adequately treated. The first and only newborn seen by the writer was in the Denver Children’s Hospital. It is a very rare disease in this country at this time.