{"title":"Delayed diagnosis of maternal and congenital syphilis: An unrecognized epidemic?","authors":"Zachary Dionisopoulos, F. Kakkar, A. Blanchard","doi":"10.14745/ccdr.v48i23a10","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Syphilis is an infection caused by Treponema pallidum spirochetes. The diagnosis of this sexually transmitted disease may be missed, partly due to the painless nature of genital ulcers in its primary stage. Women in Canada are screened for syphilis in their first trimester of pregnancy, but late pregnancy testing is not done in all provinces to date; therefore, undetected vertical transmission of syphilis may occur. This case emphasizes the importance of recognizing congenital syphilis in infants and young children with unexplained growth problems and biochemical and hematological abnormalities. Congenital syphilis remains a rare diagnosis, but in the context of increased syphilis rates in Canada during recent years, clinicians should consider this diagnosis in infants presenting with compatible clinical manifestations.","PeriodicalId":94304,"journal":{"name":"Canada communicable disease report = Releve des maladies transmissibles au Canada","volume":"221 1","pages":"115-118"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Canada communicable disease report = Releve des maladies transmissibles au Canada","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.14745/ccdr.v48i23a10","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
Syphilis is an infection caused by Treponema pallidum spirochetes. The diagnosis of this sexually transmitted disease may be missed, partly due to the painless nature of genital ulcers in its primary stage. Women in Canada are screened for syphilis in their first trimester of pregnancy, but late pregnancy testing is not done in all provinces to date; therefore, undetected vertical transmission of syphilis may occur. This case emphasizes the importance of recognizing congenital syphilis in infants and young children with unexplained growth problems and biochemical and hematological abnormalities. Congenital syphilis remains a rare diagnosis, but in the context of increased syphilis rates in Canada during recent years, clinicians should consider this diagnosis in infants presenting with compatible clinical manifestations.