Previously we reported on the Rise of Syphilis world wide. Today we focus on the devastating effects of syphilis on parents and their children. Hand in hand with an increase in syphilis incidence in adults the rates of congenital syphilis are rising and missed opportunities to test and treat birthing parents, their partners and babies are preventable contributing factors. Congenital syphilis is caused by Treponema pallidum transmission to the foetus during pregnancy and birth, resulting in diverse clinical presentations. Congenital syphilis in a foetus may be associated with a full-term, seemingly healthy infant, but it can also cause multi-organ dysfunction, prematurity, and/or stillbirth. Routine screening and early treatment of pregnant people affected by syphilis is the hallmark of effective intervention to decrease infant morbidity and mortality.

Host: Ass Prof/Dr Fabiola Martin, Canberra Sexual Health Centre and Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

- Professor Clare Nourse, Member of the Order of Australia, a paediatric infection specialist at the Queensland Children’s Hospital and clinical professor of paediatrics at the University of Queensland