Mississippi health officials warned Americans after recording a 900% increase in congenital syphilis cases among infants.
The state recorded 106 cases in 2021, more than nine times the number of cases discovered in 2018 when only 11 cases were reported to officials. The statistics were based on an analysis of hospital discharge data from Dr. Thomas Dobbs, an infectious disease physician, and state epidemiologists Dr. Paul Byers and Manuela Staneva.
Congenital Syphilis Infections
Dobbs, who works at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and is a former state health officer, posted the data he found on Twitter. This caused his analysis to gain attention, but the Mississippi State Department of Health still needs to publish the initial findings.
The medical expert's findings raise concerns regarding the lack of access to prenatal care and persistent disparities, said experts. They added that the results underscore the need for improved screening protocol as Mississippi is one of six states that does not mandate syphilis screening for pregnant patients, as per USA Today.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed data that showed syphilis cases tripling across the country in recent years. The South, a region plagued by structural racism and numerous disparities, accounted for more than half, 52%, of the 1,300 cases in the US in 2018.
The West accounted for more than a third of the total, while 21% were cases found among Hispanic women. Furthermore, roughly 40% of these cases were among Black women who already experienced disproportionate maternal and infant death rates.
A pediatric infectious disease physician at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Dr. Charlotte, Hobbs, said that mothers could not access prenatal care. This is due to either difficulty in the system or the things they face individually.
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Cases Among Newborn Babies
The CDC noted that congenital syphilis affects an infant during pregnancy when the mother passes down the sexually transmitted disease to her baby. While the Mississippi State Department of Health does not track the number of deaths due to CS, at least one baby lost its life because of the infection in 2021, according to the Independent.
Data also revealed racial disparities in Mississippi were still prevalent, with Black newborns accounting for 70% of the state's CS cases in 2020. Dobbs noted that she and other healthcare providers were horrified about what the babies were going through.
Experts noted that babies born with congenital syphilis could experience several symptoms, including deformed bones, skin rashes, and severe anemia. Infants could also develop brain and nerve issues, causing them to be unable to hear or see or have an enlarged liver and spleen.
Fortunately, Nin Ragunathan, an OB-GYN in Mississippi, said that the disease is completely curable but takes quite a bit of money. Byers also proposed a possible way to curb the number of infections and deaths caused by congenital syphilis, which is the implementation of mandatory screenings similar to other state health departments, said Deseret.
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