A new training module offered by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) targets barriers to care that complicate efforts to quell high numbers of congenital syphilis.
DSHS created the free CME, “Congenital Syphilis Prevention: Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment for Pregnant Women in Texas,” to help curb the condition, which affected 922 infants born in the state in 2022, compared with 689 affected newborns in 2021, per the latest data available from DSHS. Congenital syphilis can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm delivery, birth defects, and perinatal death.
The self-study course qualifies for 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ in medical ethics or professional responsibility. Completion of the module will help participants:
- Recognize how health disparities affect congenital syphilis prevalence and outcomes in Texas;
- Identify key transmission modes and risk factors for congenital syphilis, focusing on disparities in access to care;
- Describe prenatal screening guidelines and tests;
- Identify challenges and barriers related to syphilis screenings and tests; and
- Analyze prevention strategies.
The CME highlights opportunities for physician-level testing and treatment in appropriate settings, one area with potential for addressing increasing rates of congenital syphilis, says Carey Eppes, MD, chair of the Texas Medical Association’s Committee on Reproductive, Perinatal, and Women’s Health.
DSHS’ training module provides “more education about the complexities of syphilis testing and when it should lead to treatment, how you explore somebody’s prior treatment history to know if it was adequate and [if] they should be retreated,” as well as detailing treatment options in certain scenarios, said Dr. Eppes, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and obstetrician-gynecologist in Houston.
Disparities in access to prenatal care, where syphilis testing should happen at entry to care, during the third trimester, and at delivery, are one barrier, she says.
With syphilis testing frequently not involving a point-of-care or rapid test, being able to reconnect with affected patients is also key, another facet of access to care.
“Knowing how to get in touch with them, making sure they have transportation to come back, child care – all of those things become increasingly complex,” Dr. Eppes said. “Those are really the nuances of why the treatment side becomes challenging: It’s acting on complex tests when the patient is no longer in the same care setting and bringing them back into it.”
DSHS’ Maternal and Child Health division, with input from TMA committee leadership including Dr. Eppes, aims to have a congenital syphilis hotline for physicians and other medical providers operational in early 2026.
Stay up to date on congenital syphilis in Texas on TMA’s infectious diseases webpage.
Jessica Ridge
Reporter, Division of Communications and Marketing
(512) 370-1395