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If untreated, Treponema pallidum infections can cause a variety of clinical manifestations according to the stage of the infection — primary, secondary, latent, tertiary syphilis — ranging from a chancre at the site of infection to neurosyphilis and cardiovascular syphilis 10–30 years after infection. Mother‐to‐child transmission of the spirochete causes congenital syphilis, which can have devastating consequences; more than half of untreated infections lead to serious complications, including stillbirth, neonatal death, and major malformations. As the risk of a woman transmitting syphilis to her child is greatest during the primary and secondary (infectious) stages of syphilis, pregnancy is a critical time for syphilis testing and treatment. Syphilis is routinely diagnosed on the basis of a combination of clinical history and serological testing; benzathine penicillin is recommended for first‐line treatment, the dose determined by the stage of infection.

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Authors: Belinda Hengel, Hamish McManus, Robert Monaghan, Donna B Mak, Amy Bright, Ximena Tolosa, Kellie Mitchell, Lorraine Anderson, Jackie R Thomas, Nathan Ryder, Louise Causer, Rebecca J Guy and Skye McGregor

Article Type: Research