The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has issued a public health alert after the deaths of several babies from congenital syphilis.
There have been five cases of stillbirths or newborn deaths as a result of congenital syphilis from Jan. 1 to Sept. 1, 2023.
NCDHHS is asking doctors to work to prevent congenital syphilis and help reverse this “alarming” trend.
State health officials say it’s a preventable disease, but if left untreated in pregnant women, it can have life-long health impacts on babies, like bone damage, anemia, jaundice, blindness or deafness or skin rashes. It can also lead to miscarriages and stillbirths.
In North Carolina 57 cases were reported in 2022 compared to only one case reported ten years prior; that mirrors a national trend.
