Antenatal screening for syphilis should not be abandoned

Antenatal screening for syphilis in the United Kingdom is routine but lacks any formal or evidence based policy. On p 1617 Hurtig et al report on the first national surveys of syphilis in pregnancy and congenital syphilis. Over three years 121 of the 139 pregnant women treated for syphilis by genitourinary medicine specialists were detected through antenatal screening. Women from ethnic minority groups, who were born abroad, or who were living in London were overrepresented, but cases also occurred in white women born in the United Kingdom and living outside London. Seventeen children were found with presumptive or possible congenital syphilis; mothers not receiving antenatal care or late booking was a risk factor. The authors conclude that abandoning or targeting screening is inadvisable.


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Relevant Article

Syphilis in pregnant women and their children in the United Kingdom: results from national clinician reporting surveys 1994-7

A-K Hurtig, A Nicoll, C Carne, T Lissauer, N Connor, J P Webster, and L Ratcliffe
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