Demographic Characteristics and Pregnancy Outcomes Among Mothers of Infants with Congenital Syphilis by Maternal HIV Status — United States, 2018–2023
- Presentation Day/Time: Tuesday, April 21, 10:15 AM
- Presenter: Halley Riley, PhD, MPH, National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Division of STD Prevention
The Issue
- Reported congenital syphilis (CS) cases in the United States approximately tripled from 1,382 in 2018 to 3,882 in 2023. CS can cause adverse pregnancy outcomes, lifelong morbidity, and mortality. Maternal syphilis and HIV infection can each cause adverse pregnancy outcomes alone, but maternal characteristics and outcomes of infants with CS among mothers who also have HIV are understudied.
What We Did
- To guide tailored interventions, we used national surveillance data to assess maternal demographics and pregnancy outcomes among mothers of infants with CS by maternal HIV status.
What We Found
- Among 15,993 CS cases reported from 2018- 2023, 192 (1%) of mothers had HIV, and 2,572 (16%) of mothers had unknown HIV status. Over half of mothers with unknown HIV status lacked documented prenatal care. Among mothers of infants with CS, syphilis and HIV co-infection was more prevalent among Black non-Hispanic women and women in the South. Infants born to mothers with co-infection more frequently had low birth weight and preterm birth.
What This Means
- Stratifying by maternal HIV status reveals important patterns among CS cases. Populations with higher prevalence of syphilis and HIV co-infection might benefit from tailored interventions, including patient and clinician education, enhanced screening, and care coordination.
