An epidemic of congenital syphilis in Jefferson County, Texas, 1994-1995: inadequate prenatal syphilis testing after an outbreak in adults

After a syphilis epidemic in Jefferson County, Texas, in 1993 and 1994, congenital syphilis prevalence and risk factors were determined and local prenatal syphilis screening practices were assessed. Medical records were reviewed, pregnant women with syphilis were interviewed, and prenatal care provi...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	American journal of public health (1971) Vol. 89; no. 4; pp. 557 - 560
Main Authors:	Southwick, K L, Guidry, H M, Weldon, M M, Mert, K J, Berman, S M, Levine, W C
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Washington, DC Am Public Health Assoc 01-04-1999 American Public Health Association
Subjects:	Adolescent Adult African Americans Analysis of Variance Babies Bacterial diseases Bacterial diseases of the genital system Biological and medical sciences Births Cocaine Congenital diseases Disease Outbreaks - statistics & numerical data Epidemics Female HIV Human bacterial diseases Human immunodeficiency virus Humans Infectious diseases Interviews Logistic Models Male Mass Screening - methods Medical records Medical sciences Population Surveillance Pregnancy Prenatal care Prenatal Care - methods Prenatal development Prevalence Public health Quality of Health Care Risk Factors Serology Sexually transmitted diseases STD Surveys and Questionnaires Syphilis Syphilis, Congenital - epidemiology Syphilis, Congenital - etiology Syphilis, Congenital - prevention & control Texas - epidemiology Treponema pallidum Urine USA, Texas Womens health United States North America Texas America United States > US Jefferson County Texas Human Evaluation Sanitary program Prevalence Pregnancy disorders Hepatic disease Medical screening Epidemiology Congenital disease Treponematosis Infection Prenatal Newborn diseases Sexually transmitted disease Newborn Syphilis Risk factor Bacteriosis Female Diagnosis Public health Spirachaetosis
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	After a syphilis epidemic in Jefferson County, Texas, in 1993 and 1994, congenital syphilis prevalence and risk factors were determined and local prenatal syphilis screening practices were assessed. Medical records were reviewed, pregnant women with syphilis were interviewed, and prenatal care providers were surveyed. Of 91 women, 59 (65%) had infants with congenital syphilis. Among African Americans, the prevalence per 1000 live births was 24.1 in 1994 and 17.9 in 1995. Of the 50 women with at least 2 prenatal care visits who had infants with congenital syphilis, 15 (30%) had received inadequate testing. Only 16% of 31 providers obtained an early third-trimester syphilis test on all patients. Inadequate prenatal testing contributed to this outbreak of congenital syphilis.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23
ISSN:	0090-0036 1541-0048
DOI:	10.2105/AJPH.89.4.557