Last year, more than 3,700 babies were born in the US with the sexually transmitted disease syphilis – more than ten times as many as a decade earlier. The CDC published these worrying figures on Tuesday.
Syphilis occurs in infants when the mother herself is infected and the disease is not treated for her. Syphilis can cause miscarriages in pregnant women and cause long-term effects such as blindness and deafness or bone deformities in their children.
“There is a real epidemic in the country”
The number of syphilis cases in the United States has reached “heartbreakingly high levels,” said CDC representative Debra Houry. Overall, there is a veritable epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases in the country. The number of syphilis cases is increasing in all age groups.
The health authority called on doctors to take every opportunity to examine pregnant women for syphilis – for example during emergency treatment or in support programs for drug users. The majority of infections could have been prevented if the mother had been treated early.
Source: Krone
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