Cases on the Rise
The number of congenital syphilis cases in Indiana has increased by 2,400% from 2018 to 2023. Nationally, there has been a 755% increase in congenital syphilis cases between 2012 and 2021. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recent analysis shows that almost nine in 10 cases of newborn syphilis in 2022 might have been prevented with timely testing and treatment during pregnancy. More than half of cases were among mothers who tested positive for syphilis during pregnancy but did not receive adequate or timely treatment, and nearly 40 percent of cases were among birthing mothers who were not receiving prenatal care.
This toolkit has several different resources to help expand testing and treatment in Indiana. For help obtaining resources, including rapid tests or Bicillin, please contact your local health department.
Role of Healthcare Providers
All healthcare providers play a critical role in screening reproductive age individuals. Here are some of our recommendations:
- Perform syphilis testing on all patients upon finding a positive pregnancy test.
- Test all pregnant patients three times during pregnancy (at initial prenatal visit, again at 28-32 weeks of gestation, and then at delivery).
- Meet people where they are with syphilis testing and treatment outside of settings in which pregnant patients are typically encountered. This could include emergency departments, urgent cares, primary care visits, jail/prison intake, local health departments, community programs, and addiction services.
- Perform screening and treatment of all sexually active women and their partners for syphilis in counties with high syphilis rates.
- Perform screening and appropriate treatment for those with other risk factors for syphilis (have unprotected sex and do not use condoms or do not use them correctly, have multiple sex partners, have a sex partner who has syphilis and have sex with a partner who has multiple sex partners).
- Treat all pregnant women who are infected with syphilis immediately upon diagnosis, according to their clinical stage of infection. Treatment must be with penicillin G benzathine (Bicillin LA).
