CDC: Syphilis rates among newborns rose 235% in just 4 years

• Syphilis cases in newborn babies rose 235% between 2016 and 2020, according to new CDC data.
• Syphilis is easily treatable with the antibiotic penicillin.

Syphilis rates in newborns soared 235% in four years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday. Syphilis cases among newborns were up nearly 15% from 2019 to 2020, escalating further from what was already a 20-year high. Early data from 2021 suggests the trend is only getting worse, the CDC said, mirroring hikes in other STD rates nationwide, which did not slow down during the pandemic.

Congenital syphilis is preventable, easily treatable with antibiotics administered to the mother, or to the infant as soon as they are born. But without treatment, syphilis can be deadly.

Babies born to moms with untreated syphilis can be stillborn, or die in infancy. In 2020, there were 2,148 congenital syphilis cases diagnosed across the US, and 149 babies with syphilis died or were stillborn, the CDC report said.

If babies born with syphilis survive, their long term complications can include bone damage, severe anemia, enlarged liver and spleen, jaundice, nerve problems causing blindness or deafness, meningitis, or skin rashes, the CDC says. In general, babies born with congenital syphilis can have "lifelong physical and mental health problems," Dr. Jonathan Mermin, Director of the center for STDs at the CDC, told reporters on a call Tuesday.

Syphilis is preventable and treatable. The rise in cases may be partially linked to more illicit drug use.

The US's congenital syphilis epidemic is essentially the result of disparities in health care, and a broken public health system. Often, mothers of babies born with syphilis have not gotten adequate prenatal care, or undergone screening to detect they have syphilis.

Dr. Leandro Mena, who directs the CDC's STD prevention division, told Insider that the data in this report can't explain exactly what's driving the increase, but it "offers some small clues."

"Among syphilis cases in women, we're seeing increases in the percentage of cases reporting behaviors that put them at increased risk of syphilis, such as injection drug use, meth use, and having sex with partners who inject drugs," Mena said.

Using meth or injection drugs can't give you syphilis directly, but it is associated with behaviors, like exchanging drugs for sex, that increase infection risk. Syphilis spreads from person to person through skin to skin contact with infectious sores.

Drug use alone can't explain the stark increase in cases across the US, though. Other factors driving the increase likely include disparities in prenatal care, housing issues, and lack of insurance for expectant mothers.

Many people may never know they have syphilis without a test. Late stage syphilis can prompt tumors, blindness, brain damage, organ damage, nervous system damage, and paralysis. It can be deadly, but is easily treated with antibiotics.