Does screening for syphilis in pregnancy reduce the incidence of congenital syphilis in neonates?
We found 1 study in a non-U.S. population9 that provided information on the benefits of screening for syphilis in pregnancy and met our inclusion criteria; we did not find any new studies in U.S. populations. The 1 study we found evaluated the effect of implementing a free, routine syphilis screening program for pregnant women in a region of China. A total of 418,871 pregnant women who were treated at 61 hospitals in the Shenzhen region of China from 2003 to 2005 were offered free syphilis screening. Ninety-four percent of eligible women were screened. Syphilis was diagnosed in 2019 women over the 3 years of the study, of whom 92% received timely treatment, 3% received delayed treatment, 3% declined treatment, and 2% were lost to follow-up. Of the 1402 women who had syphilis and chose to continue their pregnancy, 86 (6%) had pregnancies that ended in fetal demise or stillbirth. Ninety-two live-born infants with congenital syphilis were reported in the 3 years of the study. Most (83%) o
