CD News Alert

CD HEALTH ALERT: Congenital Syphilis and Perinatal HIV

December 20, 2021

In the attached Dear Colleague letter , the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is asking for your assistance in responding to concerning increases in congenital syphilis and perinatal HIV in California. In 2019, 446 congenital syphilis cases were reported in California, the highest number of cases since 1993. In 2020 there were also six perinatal HIV transmissions in California, compared to four in 2019 and three in 2018. Most of the birthing parents of children with perinatal HIV were co-infected with or had a recent history of syphilis, one of the indications for offering HIV prevention medication (i.e., Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis or PrEP). This highlights the need for an integrated approach to these devastating and preventable infections.