What Is Congenital Syphilis?
Congenital syphilis, also known as fetal syphilis, infects the fetus through the placenta in the mother's body and can cause stillbirth and premature birth. When the pregnant mother is infected early and untreated, her fetus is almost affected, and 50% of the fetuses have miscarriages, premature births, stillbirths or die during the neonatal period. Survivors develop clinical symptoms at different ages after birth. It is a disease that seriously affects the physical and mental health of infants and young children. The incidence of syphilis continues to increase, and the annual increase in fetal syphilis must be given high attention.
Basic Information
- nickname
- Fetal syphilis
- English name
- congenital syphilis
- Visiting department
- Infectious Diseases
- Common causes
- Treponema pallidum easily infects the fetus through the placenta, causing congenital syphilis
- Common symptoms
- Fetal liver enlargement, placenta thickening, fetal edema; premature infants, etc.
- Contagious
- Have
- way for spreading
- Placental transmission
Causes of congenital syphilis
- Treponema pallidum easily infects the fetus through the placenta, causing congenital syphilis.
Clinical manifestations of congenital syphilis
- Fetal manifestation
- Congenital syphilis can manifest as liver enlargement, placental thickening, fetal edema, intrauterine growth retardation, non-immune hemolysis, premature delivery, stillbirth, etc. during the fetal period.
- 2. Postnatal performance
- Early congenital syphilis mostly manifests as premature, low birth weight, or infants less than gestational age; nutrition and development lag behind those of the same gestational age. Rash (pustules, peeling, maculopapular rash), stuffy nose, runny nose, jaundice, hepatosplenomegaly, meningitis, others may appear interstitial pneumonia, nephritis, myocarditis, choroidal retinitis. Late congenital syphilis manifests as interstitial keratitis, saddle nose, Hutchinson teeth, deafness, and mental retardation.
Congenital syphilis test
- 1. Take placenta, amniotic fluid, skin lesions and other susceptible specimens and look for Treponema pallidum under dark field microscope.
- 2. STD test kit is simple, fast, and highly sensitive, but there are false positives, which can be used as screening tests.
- 3. Fluorospira antibody adsorption test has strong specificity and is often used to confirm the diagnosis.
Diagnosis of congenital syphilis
- The diagnosis can be confirmed mainly based on the mother's medical history, clinical manifestations, and laboratory tests.
Congenital Syphilis Treatment
- The treatment of congenital syphilis should be carried out under the guidance of a professional doctor. The treatment principles are: early, systematic, and sufficient medication. If the treatment is timely, there will be no sequelae. Intravenous infusion with penicillin or procaine penicillin can be used for 10 to 14 days. If you are allergic to penicillin, you can use erythromycin, orally or by injection. Follow-up was continued at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months after the end of the treatment until its titer continued to drop or became negative.
Congenital syphilis prevention
- Congenital syphilis is a preventable disease. The timely and regular treatment of pregnant women with syphilis is the most effective measure to reduce the incidence of congenital syphilis. Therefore, we must actively do a good job of prenatal examination and timely treatment of syphilis during pregnancy.