title: Risk factors for congenital syphilis.
abstract: A prospective study of newborns whose mothers had untreated or inadequately treated syphilis was undertaken. The infants were followed up for 3-4 months to ascertain whether they had congenital syphilis. A number of variables were analysed as possible predictive factors for the development of congenital syphilis. A maternal Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) titre of 1:32 or above indicated which infants would develop congenital syphilis with a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 78%. The risk of a congenitally infected infant was significantly higher amongst the group of untreated mothers (p = 0.036). Low birthweight per se did not appear to be a predictor of the subsequent diagnosis of congenital syphilis. Using these simple predictive factors it may be possible to determine which at-risk infants would most benefit from careful supervision or a full 10-day course of therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Malan
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013587:Syphilis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D013588:Syphilis Serodiagnosis / Q000379:methods*; D013590:Syphilis, Congenital / Q000175:diagnosis*