{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,2]],"date-time":"2025-12-02T18:45:35Z","timestamp":1764701135261,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,6]],"date-time":"2024-06-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1717632000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Syphilis and congenital syphilis (CS) cases have been rising in the U.S. and internationally since the 2000s. Social factors have been shown to increase the risk of CS transmission. The COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to increased syphilis transmission. We aimed to quantify the rise in congenital syphilis (CS) rates at a large urban hospital and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CS rates. We completed a retrospective chart review of 61 pregnant women with a positive test or previous diagnosis of syphilis at an urban academic hospital between 1 January 2016 and 1 June 2022. Maternal syphilis and CS rates increased over the 5 years (p &lt; 0.001), particularly pre- and post-COVID-19 (p &lt; 0.001). Of the mothers studied, 34.6% received adequate prenatal care, 62.7% received adequate screening, and 81.3% received adequate treatment. Stillbirth was noted in 6.6% of pregnancies. Of liveborn infants, 97.6% received appropriate treatment, and 45.1% received adequate follow-up. CS development was significantly associated with homelessness (p = 0.028) and past opioid use (p = 0.031). We concluded that maternal syphilis and CS rates have increased at our hospital, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Access to prenatal care and timely maternal treatment are target areas for improvement.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children11060697","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,6]],"date-time":"2024-06-06T12:04:28Z","timestamp":1717675468000},"page":"697","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Analysis of Maternal and Congenital Syphilis Rates at a New Jersey University Hospital"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Paige","family":"Heiman","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ 08103, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4900-6636","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vineet","family":"Bhandari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ 08103, USA"},{"name":"Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, NJ 08103, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4877-3718","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sarah","family":"Davenport","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA"},{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Krystal","family":"Hunter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ 08103, USA"},{"name":"Cooper Research Institute, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, NJ 08103, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Melissa","family":"Micallef","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ 08103, USA"},{"name":"Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, NJ 08103, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8623-493X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alla","family":"Kushnir","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ 08103, USA"},{"name":"Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, NJ 08103, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2613962","DOI":"10.1155\/2019\/2613962","article-title":"Challenges in the Contemporary Management of Syphilis among Pregnant Women in New Orleans, LA","volume":"2019","author":"Stafford","year":"2019","journal-title":"Infect. Dis. Obstet. Gynecol."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e143","DOI":"10.1017\/S0950268819000281","article-title":"The resurgence of syphilis in high-income countries in the 2000s: A focus on Europe","volume":"147","author":"Spiteri","year":"2019","journal-title":"Epidemiol. Infect"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"66","DOI":"10.1097\/INF.0000000000003233","article-title":"High Incidence of Congenital Syphilis in New Zealand: A New Zealand Pediatric Surveillance Unit Study","volume":"41","author":"Gilmour","year":"2022","journal-title":"Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J."},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022). Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 2020, US Department of Health and Human Services."},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2024, January 30). National Overview of STIs, Available online: https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/std\/statistics\/2022\/overview.htm."},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, and Division of HIV and STD Programs (2020). Eliminating Congenital Syphilis in Los Angeles County: A Call to Action, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2020049080","DOI":"10.1542\/peds.2020-049080","article-title":"Congenital Syphilis Diagnosed Beyond the Neonatal Period in the United States: 2014\u20132018","volume":"148","author":"Kimball","year":"2021","journal-title":"Pediatrics"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"661","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.mm6922a1","article-title":"Missed Opportunities for Prevention of Congenital Syphilis\u2014United States, 2018","volume":"69","author":"Kimball","year":"2020","journal-title":"MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep."},{"key":"ref_9","first-page":"5","article-title":"Efficacy of treatment for syphilis in pregnancy","volume":"93","author":"Alexander","year":"1999","journal-title":"Obstet. Gynecol."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e81","DOI":"10.1097\/OLQ.0000000000001431","article-title":"Rising Syphilis Rates During the COVID-19 Pandemic","volume":"48","author":"Stanford","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sex Transm. Dis."},{"key":"ref_11","unstructured":"American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases (2021). Red Book (2021): Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases, American Academy of Pediatrics."},{"key":"ref_12","unstructured":"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2024, June 03). State Statutory and Regulatory Language Regarding Prenatal Syphilis Screenings in the United States, Available online: https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/std\/treatment\/syphilis-screenings.htm."},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2024). Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 2021, US Department of Health and Human Services."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"798","DOI":"10.1097\/OLQ.0000000000001506","article-title":"Trends in Nationally Notifiable Sexually Transmitted Disease Case Reports During the US COVID-19 Pandemic, January to December 2020","volume":"48","author":"Pagaoa","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sex Transm. Dis."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e61","DOI":"10.1097\/OLQ.0000000000001566","article-title":"Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-Funded Sexually Transmitted Disease Programs","volume":"49","author":"Wright","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sex Transm. Dis."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"557","DOI":"10.1097\/OGX.0000000000000713","article-title":"Syphilis in Pregnancy","volume":"74","author":"Tsai","year":"2019","journal-title":"Obstet. Gynecol. Surv."},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2023, May 01). Congenital Syphilis, Available online: https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/std\/treatment-guidelines\/congenital-syphilis.htm."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"442","DOI":"10.1111\/tmi.13881","article-title":"Maternal and perinatal risk factors associated with congenital syphilis","volume":"28","author":"Pascoal","year":"2023","journal-title":"Trop. Med. Int. Health"}],"container-title":["Children"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2227-9067\/11\/6\/697\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T14:54:58Z","timestamp":1760108098000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2227-9067\/11\/6\/697"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,6]]},"references-count":18,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6]]}},"alternative-id":["children11060697"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/children11060697","relation":{},"ISSN":["2227-9067"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2227-9067"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,6]]}}}