RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - In Nevada the rate of babies being born with syphilis is among the nation’s highest. According to health officials, congenital syphilis has increased by 1,567% since 2014. Mavel Gutierrez, a Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist at Renown, says syphilis can be sneaky as 50% of infections go unnoticed, so women may not think to get tested. If they do, many only get tested once. “Sometimes they get treated one time but then if their partner doesn’t get treated, they get reinfected a second time. In these circumstances it’s a cycle where the mother gets reinfected and in the end the baby gets exposed to this bacteria,” said Gutierrez. Back in 2018, Nevada ranked number one in the nation for congenital syphilis.

Currently, we sit at number eight. Gutierrez says that even though we’ve dropped in ranking, our numbers are still increasing. As the state began seeing the upward trend, lawmakers passed bills to enhance access and requirements around testing for sexually transmitted diseases. One new law requires that pregnant woman be tested 3 times throughout their pregnancy.

But, there is more policymakers could do, including expanding access to sex education. The bottom line, according to Gutierrez, is that women aren’t receiving pre-natal care or decide to get pre-natal care late into the pregnancy. Of the babies born with congenital syphilis, 60% of their mothers did not receive the preventative healthcare. A large reason why is many women in our state don’t have access to, or find our healthcare system difficult to navigate. Often times the syphilis bacteria will lead to miscarriage or a still birth. If the baby is born the screenings need to continue as 80% of babies show no symptoms. “The most worrisome thing is that this damage works very slowly. It effects different organs.

It effects the teeth, cartilage of the nose, it effects the bones, and most importantly the eyes and the brain,” Gutierrez said. If untreated, the disease can lead to blindness and severe neurological damage. To prevent it from getting to this point, Gutierrez explains what to look out for in newborns. “If you take some x-rays you can see some findings of inflammation in the bones. Sometimes the work up will include things that we can see like the sniffles or some kind of rash,” said Gutierrez. Copyright 2024 KOLO. All rights reserved.