Topic: Congenital Syphilis
Clinical Practice Alert: Syphilis Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment
Clinical Practice Alert: Syphilis Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment
Rates of syphilis have been rising in the US, including in California, which has resulted in a corresponding rise in the rates of congenital syphilis (CS). Fifteen percent of women of childbearing age diagnosed with syphilis are pregnant.
These trends mirror a sharp increase in all stages of syphilis among females, which increased more than 500 percent during the same period. Download the PDF to learn more.
This Clinical Practice Alert includes management of primary, secondary, and latent syphilis. It does not include screening and management of syphilis in people who are pregnant or the diagnosis and treatment of tertiary syphilis.
STI Clinical Update Webinar: Congenital Syphilis Update for California Emergency Department Clinicians
December 14, 2021
Presented by Drs. Rosalyn Plotzker and Kristopher Lyon
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) continues to see dramatic statewide increases in congenital syphilis (CS), a severe yet preventable condition when syphilis is passed from mother to fetus. In California, many infants with CS are born to parents who received care in an emergency department (ED) during pregnancy, suggesting syphilis screening in EDs may offer an important opportunity to detect syphilis in pregnancy and prevent CS.
This webinar features Dr. Rosalyn Plotzker, CDPH public health medical officer and co-author of the CDPH Expanded Syphilis Screening Recommendations for the Prevention of Congenital Syphilis. She will provide a clinical overview of CS prevention and discuss the recommendation to confirm syphilis status for pregnant patients in the ED. In addition, Dr. Kristopher Lyon, Public Health Officer and EMS medical director in Kern County, California and emergency department associate medical director, will present on syphilis screening in EDs from an on-the-ground perspective.
Learning Objectives
- Describe California’s congenital syphilis epidemiology
- Discuss the pathophysiology and management of syphilis, including among pregnant patients
- Explain and apply the CDPH recommendation to confirm syphilis status among pregnant patients receiving care in emergency departments
Perinatal HIV and Congenital Syphilis—Dear Colleague Letter from CDPH
Perinatal HIV and Congenital Syphilis—Dear Colleague Letter from CDPH
November 16, 2021: CDPH is asking for assistance in responding to concerning increases in congenital syphilis and perinatal HIV in California. Perinatal HIV transmission and congenital syphilis can be prevented with timely testing and treatment. A common risk factor, however, is receiving late or no prenatal care.
CDPH requests your assistance to implement the following policies and best practices to Screen, Treat and Prevent, and Prepare for perinatal transmissions
STD Clinical Update Webinar: Congenital Syphilis Prevention Update for California Family Planning and Primary Care Providers
September 28, 2021
Presented by Drs. Eric Tang and Sara Kennedy
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) continues to see dramatic statewide increases in cases of congenital syphilis (CS), a severe yet preventable condition when syphilis is passed from mother to fetus. This webinar, presented by the California Prevention Training Center, features Dr. Eric Tang, public health medical officer at CDPH, who will provide a clinical overview of CS prevention and discuss the new Expanded Syphilis Screening Recommendations from CDPH as it relates to family planning and primary care providers.
After his presentation, Dr. Sara Kennedy, Chief Medical Officer of Planned Parenthood Northern California, will present her organization’s experience implementing expanded syphilis screening in their clinics to detect and treat syphilis cases to ultimately prevent CS cases in California.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the epidemiology and recognize the risk factors for syphilis and congenital syphilis in California
- Screen for syphilis based on the Expanded Syphilis Screening Recommendations from the California Department of Public Health
- Appropriately diagnose and manage syphilis cases in your practice
STD Clinical Update Webinar – Congenital Syphilis Update for CA Jail Providers
July 27, 2021
This webinar features Dr. Rosalyn Plotzker and Ms. Laura Kovaleski, co-authors of the CDPH Expanded Syphilis Screening Recommendations for the Prevention of Congenital Syphilis, who will provide a clinical overview of CS prevention and discuss the recommendation to screen women in correctional facilities for syphilis. Finally, Dr. Kristin Walsh, physician with Santa Clara County’s Adult Custody Health Services and HIV specialist at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center’s PACE clinic, will present the county’s experience implementing such screening practices.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe California’s CS epidemiology and incorporate data into screening
- Discuss the importance of prenatal syphilis diagnosis, evaluation, and management
- Explain and apply CDPH recommendation to screen women for syphilis in adult correctional facilities
STD Clinical Update Webinar – Congenital Syphilis Update for CA Pediatric Providers
May 25, 2021
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) continues to see dramatic statewide increases in cases of congenital syphilis (CS), a severe yet preventable condition when syphilis is passed from mother to fetus.
This webinar, presented by the California Prevention Training Center, features Dr. Kelly Johnson, infectious disease physician from UCSF and Dr. Nael Mhaissen, pediatric infectious diseases specialist from Valley Children’s Hospital.
They will discuss CS epidemiology, clinical presentation, and neonatal management. Finally, they will discuss ways providers can help stem the rising tide of CS.
Drs. Mhaissen and Johnson cover the following learning objectives for this webinar:
- Describe California’s CS epidemiology
- Recognize the clinical manifestations of CS
- Discuss CS diagnosis, evaluation, and management
- Report all laboratory-confirmed and clinically-suspected cases of CS to public health
STD Clinical Update Webinar – Maternal & Congenital Syphilis Update for CA Prenatal Care Providers
Syphilis among women and congenital syphilis are on the rise in California. Congenital syphilis is preventable with prompt detection and treatment during syphilis. Dr. Eric Tang of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and California Prevention Training Center (CAPTC) discusses prenatal care provider knowledge in management of maternal and congenital syphilis for pregnant patients.
Dr. Tang covers the following learning objectives for this webinar:
- Describe California’s CS epidemiology
- Recognize the clinical manifestations of CS
- Discuss CS diagnosis, evaluation, and management
- Report all laboratory-confirmed and clinically-suspected cases of CS to public health
STD Expert Hour Webinar – Understanding the Concerning Rise in Maternal and Congenital Syphilis in Hawaii
Oct 13, 2020
The California Prevention Training Center (CAPTC) and the STI/HIV Prevention Program at the Hawaiʻi Department of Health’s (HIDOH) Harm Reduction Services Branch present this webinar for healthcare providers and community service providers who work with communities that face cultural, economic, and language barriers to obtaining good prenatal and neonatal care.
This webinar will address the increasing rate of syphilis cases within Hawaii, with a special focus on maternal syphilis and congenital syphilis. Learners will gain an understanding of the local epidemiology of syphilis as well as the important role the Hawaii Department of Health performs in syphilis case follow-up and investigation. An overview of the pathophysiology of syphilis with its varied clinical manifestations will be discussed. Content will include the importance of staging, stage-based treatment as well as best practices for diagnosis and follow-up.
Expanded Syphilis Screening Recommendations for the Prevention of Congenital Syphilis—2020
Expanded Syphilis Screening Recommendations for the Prevention of Congenital Syphilis—2020
This document was created to enhance syphilis detection among people who are or could become pregnant (e.g. pregnant women and females of childbearing age) to prevent congenital syphilis (CS). Evidence-based recommendations in this document support policies and best practices intended to strengthen the response to the recent dramatic rise in CS incidence across California.
Please also see the associated Dear Colleage letter