Congenital syphilis is a disease that occurs when bacteria called Treponema pallidum are passed down through mother to child during pregnancy, when women receive appropriate treatment for syphilis or do so appropriately; at the time of delivery, if the woman has lesions in the genital area caused by the bacteria.
This disease can cause changes in the development of the baby, premature delivery, miscarriage, low weight even if the mother of the baby is severely infected, so it is important that the woman go to prenatal check-ups to identify the disease at that time and initiate appropriate treatment to avoid complications.
- Symptoms of congenital syphilis may appear in the first few days of birth.
- During the first two years of life.
- So depending on the age of onset of symptoms.
- Congenital syphilis may be classified early.
- When symptoms appear after birth until age 2 and later.
- When they appear from the age of 2.
The main symptoms of early congenital syphilis are
Premature babies;
Low weight;
White and red spots with peeling of the skin;
Wounds to the body;
Liver hypertrophy;
Yellowish skin;
Breathing problems, there may be pneumonia;
Anemia;
Rhinitis;
Edema.
In addition, the child may never be able to change his or her sight or hearing, for example, in the case of late congenital syphilis, bone changes may be observed, making it difficult to learn and deform the upper teeth.
Diagnosis of congenital syphilis is based on symptoms and the outcome of both mother and baby laboratory problems, however, diagnosis could be difficult, as there may be positive results in babies who are not infected due to the mother against grazing. The baby.
In addition, because most cases have no symptoms before 3 months of age, it is difficult to confirm whether the test result is correct, indicating the need for treatment, due to the baby’s risk of infection with syphilis, which determines factors such as the mother’s treatment status, the outcome of the syphilis problem, and postpartum physical examination.
Congenital syphilis is cured when treatment is done as soon as the diagnosis is confirmed, and it is important to avoid serious complications, the treatment of congenital syphilis is always done with penicillin in injectables, however, the dose and duration of treatment vary depending on the risk of infection of the baby, and the longer treatment lasts 14 days.
After treatment, your pediatrician may schedule several follow-up appointments and repeated syphilis problems to assess your development and confirm that there is no infection.
The only way to reduce the risk of passing syphilis on to the baby is to start mother treatment during the first mitigation period. Therefore, it is important that the woman is cared for, performing all prenatal visits from which blood tests are taken, in order to identify possible infections that could affect the baby during pregnancy.
It is important to use a barrier device during sex and it should also be treated against syphilis to prevent a new infection.