By Victor Omondi
(Source Your Black World Network):
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that syphilis rates in infants have increased by 235% in four years. From 2019 to 2020, the number of babies infected with syphilis increased by approximately 15%, bringing the total to a 20-year high. Early data from 2021 suggests the trend is just growing worse, according to the CDC, echoing nationwide increases in other STD rates that did not slow throughout the pandemic.
Congenital syphilis can be prevented and treated with antibiotics given to the mother or the baby as soon as they are born. However, syphilis can be fatal if not treated.
Babies delivered to mot-hers who have untreated syphilis are at risk of stillbirth or early death. According to the CDC, there were 2,148 instances of congenital syphilis detected in the United States in 2020, and 149 newborns with syphilis died or were stillborn.
Long-term effects of syphilis in babies can include bone damage, severe anemia, enlarged liver and spleen, jaundice, nerve disorders causing blindness or hearing, meningitis, or skin rashes, as per the CDC. Dr. Jonathan Mermin, Director of the Center for STDs at the CDC, told reporters on a call Tuesday that newborns born with congenital syphilis can have “lifelong physical and mental health problems.”
The epidemic of congenital syphilis in the United States is mostly due to inequities in health care and a flawed public health system. Frequently, moms of babies born with syphilis have not received sufficient prenatal care or had their syphilis detected through screening.
The statistics in this research can’t explain exactly what’s driving the surge, but it “offers some small clues,” said Dr. Leandro Mena, who oversees the CDC’s STD prevention division.
“Among syphilis cases in women, we’re seeing increases in the percentage of cases reporting behaviors that put them at increased risk of syphilis, such as injection drug use, meth use, and having sex with partners who inject drugs,” stated Mena.
Although using meth or injectable drugs does not directly cause syphilis, it is linked to actions that raise the risk of infection, such as swapping drugs for sex. Syphilis is spread from person to person by contact with infected sores on the skin.
