Congenital syphilis occurs when the bacterium responsible for the disease, Treponema pallidum , passes from the mother to the baby during pregnancy or at the time of delivery, if the woman has lesions in the genital region caused by the bacteria.
Transmission from the mother to the baby can happen at any time during pregnancy, being more frequent in women who have never had treatment for syphilis or have not done the treatment correctly.
Congenital syphilis can result in changes in the baby's development, premature birth, miscarriage, low birth weight or death of the baby when severely infected. Therefore, it is important for the woman to perform the prenatal examination and, if the diagnosis of syphilis is confirmed, start treatment according to the doctor's guidance.
Main symptoms
Symptoms of congenital syphilis may appear soon after birth, during or after the first 2 years of life. Thus, according to the age at which the symptoms start to appear, congenital syphilis can be classified as early, when the symptoms appear soon after birth or until 2 years old, and late, when they appear from 2 years old.
The main symptoms of early congenital syphilis are:
- Prematurity; Low weight; White and red spots with peeling skin; Wounds on the body; Liver enlargement; Yellowish skin; Breathing problems, with pneumonia; Anemia; Rhinitis; Edema.
In addition, the child may still be born with changes in vision or hearing, for example. In the case of late congenital syphilis, bone changes, learning difficulties and deformed upper teeth can be noticed.
How the diagnosis is made
The diagnosis of congenital syphilis is based on the symptoms presented and results of laboratory tests of both the mother and the baby, however the diagnosis can be difficult because there may be positive results in babies who are not infected due to the passage of antibodies from the mother to the baby.
In addition, as most cases do not show symptoms before 3 months of age, it is difficult to confirm whether the test result is true. Thus, the need for treatment is indicated by the risk of the baby being infected with syphilis, which is determined by factors such as the mother's treatment status, the result of the syphilis test and the physical examination done after birth.
How the treatment is done
Congenital syphilis is curable when treatment is done as soon as the diagnosis is confirmed, and it is also important to avoid serious complications. The treatment of congenital syphilis is always done with penicillin injections, however, the doses and duration of treatment vary according to the risk of infection of the baby, with the longest treatment lasting up to 14 days. See how treatment is done for each type of baby's risk.
After treatment, the pediatrician can make several follow-up visits to repeat the examination of syphilis in the baby and assess its development, confirming that it is no longer infected.
How to avoid congenital syphilis
The only way to reduce the risk of passing syphilis to the baby is to start the mother's treatment during the first half of pregnancy. Thus, it is important that the pregnant woman does all prenatal consultations, where important blood tests are done to identify possible infections that may affect the baby during pregnancy.
In addition, it is important that condoms are used in all sexual relations, and the partner must also be treated for syphilis to avoid recontamination of the pregnant woman.
Watch the following video and better understand this disease:
