Although fewer US children are born infected with syphilis, the rate of fetal and infant deaths associated with the disease has not changed, researchers from the CDC report. A baby can be born with syphilis, meaning he or she has congenital syphilis, if the mother has the STD and is untreated or receives inadequate treatment. Babies with congenital syphilis can suffer hearing loss, bone deformities and seizures, and they may die during or after birth.

In the May online issue of Pediatrics (2002;109;5:e79), Dr. Deborah A. Gust and colleagues report their analysis of CDC data on congenital syphilis from 1992 to 1998. During these years, 14,627 cases of congenital syphilis were reported, and there were 942 deaths, including 760 stillbirths. This translates to a fatality rate of 6.4 percent, the report indicates. Most of these fatalities (96.2 percent) resulted from congenital syphilis that went untreated, was inadequately treated or went without documented treatment.

Gust's team found that infant mortality from congenital syphilis decreased as the number of prenatal health care visits rose. Compared with women who had 10 prenatal care visits or more, women who had no prenatal care were almost eight times more likely to deliver a stillborn or an infant who died. "Only by approaching the problem of congenital syphilis from the standpoint of the healthcare providers and the standpoint of the broader social context in which these women are living can the elimination of syphilis and congenital syphilis be achieved," Gust and colleagues concluded.

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