GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — Cases of syphilis are on the rise in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports fewer than 6,000 cases in 2000, to more than 207,000 in 2022.
It's also increasing among people who are pregnant. Rates of syphilis among American mothers giving birth more than tripled since 2016.
Syphilis is particularly worrisome for people who are pregnant, because it can be passed to the fetus. There were 3,755 cases of newborns with syphilis in 2022, a 183% increase since 2018.
"It shouldn't be something that we should see a resurgence of," said Dr. Mike Tsimis, a maternal-fetal medicine doctor at Corewell Health. "We need to keep up our advocacy and our education and make sure that everyone's adequately treated with the appropriate regimen."
Dr. Tsimis said mothers can transmit syphilis to fetuses in utero, especially in the beginning stages of the infection.
"The idea would be that you could see higher rates of stillbirth, you can see higher rates of potentially poor outcomes, preterm labor can be an issue," said Tsimis. "Even after delivery, those neonates can also have a higher morbidity, and they can pass away as a result of inflammation in the liver region. They can also have swelling in the belly region. We can see that they can have low platelets, which can affect their ability to clot blood."
However, syphilis is both preventable and treatable.
"Treatment does exist, and treatment is effective," said Tsimis. "Treatment is usually relatively straightforward, and it does involve penicillin, or some regimen of penicillin."
Syphilis has been around for centuries as a sexually transmitted infection. It once was a major public health issue. With the discover of penicillin in the 1940s, cases of the infection significantly dropped.
There was a resurgence in the 1980s coinciding with the AIDS epidemic.
Why is there a resurgence now in the 2020s? Dr. Tsimis said it likely comes down to a lack of access to healthcare.
"Pregnancy might be one of the first moments that a mother may use the healthcare system to learn about certain things," said Tsimis.
Syphilis is mandated to be tested for in every woman begins prenatal care.
"The symptoms can be so minor, so nonspecific that you may not even have a thought that you may have a sexually transmitted infection that is very treatable," said Tsimis. "And there is a cure for it."
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