What Is Congenital Syphilis?

Syphilis is a treatable sexually transmitted disease (STD). Congenital syphilis (CS) occurs when syphilis is transmitted from mother to infant during pregnancy or delivery. Congenital syphilis is preventable if women get the correct treatment prior to, or during their pregnancy.

Congenital syphilis can be life-threatening for the baby. It can cause serious health problems like miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, or birth defects. Not all babies born with congenital syphilis will show symptoms at birth. Women should be tested during pregnancy and babies should be tested if the mother’s tests were positive or unknown.

There is treatment for babies with CS, but they need to be treated right away. If not treated immediately, they could develop serious health problems months, or even years later. It is also important that babies get the proper follow-up care based on medical advice.
 

Congenital Syphilis Prevention and Treatment 

The number of babies born with CS has been steadily rising, in both Texas and the rest of the US. In 2022, early syphilis was diagnosed in 3,125 women of childbearing age in Texas.  DSHS is implementing a new strategy to lower the number of syphilis and congenital syphilis cases by encouraging regular syphilis screening, conducting thorough testing, and ensuring individuals receive proper treatment.

Stopping the rise of congenital syphilis and adult syphilis needs help from public health departments, providers, and community groups. We want to make it easy for you to find information about syphilis, see the latest numbers, get tools for testing and treatment, and learn more about congenital syphilis in your community.
 

Where to Report for Healthcare Providers

Healthcare providers can report positive syphilis test results or syphilis diagnoses to their local health authority. If the provider is located in an area without a local health authority, then the provider is required to report to the DSHS Regional Office. To locate the closest jurisdiction to you, click on the link below to find the jurisdiction closest to you to report Congenital Syphilis cases.  Once the jurisdiction pops up, click on the map and the pane on the right will populate with zip codes for that jurisdiction.  Use the scroll bar on the right pane to move up and down the jurisdiction.

Jurisdictions and Contacts with zip codes