MSDH taking action to stop rising syphilis cases in pregnant mothers in Mississippi

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - After a rapid rise in Syphilis cases recently, health officials are now calling this infectious disease a crisis. That’s why the Mississippi State Department of Health is now addressing this issue head on.

“We’ve seen a massive increase in the number of women who have had syphilis during pregnancy and babies born with syphilis including severe outcomes and deaths, so it’s very tragic,” Dr. Thomas Dobbs said.

Cases of congenital syphilis jumped more than 1100% from 2019 to 2020, from 37 reported cases to 101 cases per 100,000 live births.

“It’s so bad right, that we got to really pull out all the stops and we definitely need the health care system which is really where the majority of where interventions take place,” Dr. Dobbs said. “Untreated Syphilis during pregnancy will lead to miscarriage or the demise of the baby in the womb forty percent of the time, so it’s huge, very, very deadly.”

Because of all this, all Mississippi physicians and medical practitioners providing prenatal care are required to perform syphilis testing for all pregnant people in their first trimester or at the initial visit for prenatal care and perform syphilis testing for all pregnant people at the time of delivery

If no documentation of syphilis testing during the current pregnancy is available or the patient has received no prior prenatal care in the current pregnancy, ensure appropriate treatment for syphilis infections during pregnancy, per the most current CDC treatment guidelines, and ensure appropriate reporting of syphilis infection in pregnancy to MSDH.

All of the mandates above are effective immediately.

Dr. Dobbs says using protection and limiting sexual partners can also prevent someone from getting syphilis.

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