Since 2012, congenital syphilis rates in newborns have increased significantly, and in 2014 the disease incidence reached its highest rate since 2001, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
From 1991 to 2005, congenital syphilis (CS) rates in the United States decreased, but increased slightly from 2005 to 2008 to 10.5/100,000 live births, said Dr. Virginia Bowen of the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (MMWR. 2015 Nov 13;64[44]:1241-5) and her coauthors. After 2008, CS rates decreased again, reaching a low of 8.4/100,000 live births in 2012. In 2013, the rate increased to 9.1/100,000 births, and grew to 11.6/100,000 births in 2014. This growth corresponds to a concurrent growth in primary and secondary syphilis in women, the rate of which increased from 0.9/100,000 in 2012 to 1.1/100,000 in 2014, a 22% increase.
CDC
Every region in the United States saw an increase in CS rates from 2012 to 2014, but was highest in the West, where the rate more than doubled, increasing from 5.5/100,000 births to 12.8/100,000. All racial/ethnic groups saw an increase as well, with the greatest increase in whites; however, CS rates in non-Hispanic blacks remained more than 10 times higher than in whites, and 3 times higher than in Hispanics.
“Health departments, in partnership with prenatal care providers and other local organizations, should work together to address barriers to obtaining early and adequate prenatal care for the majority of vulnerable pregnant women. Women who are uninsured or underinsured and women with substance use issues have been found to be at increased risk for receiving inadequate or no prenatal care, placing them at increased risk for CS,” the CDC investigators said.
Find the full report in the MMWR.