Reaching beyond pregnant women to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of syphilis in Africa.
Congenital syphilis is a devastating disease that can be prevented by screening and treatment of infected pregnant women. The WHO is leading a global initiative to eliminate mother-to-child-transmission of syphilis with a goal of ≤50 congenital syphilis cases per 100,000 live births and targets of 95% antenatal care, 95% syphilis testing, and 95% treatment coverage. We estimated current congenital syphilis rates for 43 African countries, and additional scenarios in a subset of 9 countries. Our analysis suggested that only 4 of 43 countries are likely to currently have a congenital syphilis rate ≤50 per 100,000 live births, and none of the 9 countries could reach this goal even in 5 different scenarios with improved services. To achieve the eliminate mother-to-child-transmission goal, it appears necessary to intervene beyond services for pregnant women, and decrease prevalence of syphilis in the general population as well.
UC Berkeley-UC San Francisco Joint Medical Program, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA.
Lee A
LA
Trope
Nalinka Saman
NS
Wijesooriya
Nathalie
N
Broutet
Marleen
M
Temmerman
Lori
L
Newman
D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008403:Mass Screening; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011295:Prenatal Care; D013590:Syphilis, Congenital / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission*; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000302:isolation & purification*
Africa; Treponema pallidum; antenatal care; congenital syphilis; maternal syphilis; mother-to-child transmission; pregnancy