WIP 143 - Review of Children who were Evaluated for Congenital Syphilis

Poster Number: WIP 143
Publication Number: WIP 143.945

Background: Rates of syphilis have increased in our county and around the world. Accordingly, rates of infants born to mothers with syphilis have also increased. From 2012 - 2019, the number of reported congenital syphilis cases has increased over 1,300% in our county, according to the department of public health. The primary method of treatment of possible or probably congenital syphilis is aqueous crystalline penicillin G administered intravenously for 10 days. Infants are then followed over a few months to years to look for down trending RPR.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to review the charts of any infants hospitalized at our hospital with a reactive RPR test or born to a mother with a reactive RPR test, indicative of risk of congenital syphilis infection. We hope to learn how the rates have increased at our hospital over the past 5 years, the spectrum of clinical disease in children hospitalized with congenital syphilis risk and the rates and routes of administration of penicillin and the long-term risk of developing symptomatic disease. We hypothesize that all children were appropriately evaluated and treated for congenital syphilis, and that no children developed symptomatic disease following treatment.

Design/Methods: This study was designated as an exempt study through the institutional IRB, and it was approved August 2023.
The medical laboratory provided historical data. We have searched for any infants with reactive RPR. Additionally, we have searched for pregnant women with positive treponemal antibodies and/or reactive RPR, and then identify the infants born from those pregnancies. After identification of all infants with possible exposure to syphilis in utero, all other clinical data is extracted from the medical record.
Chart abstraction is in process and should be completed by the end of November 2023. Data analysis will follow chart abstraction.