Congenital syphilis medical therapy
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
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Overview
Treatment
If a pregnant mother is identified as being infected with syphilis, treatment can effectively prevent congenital syphilis from developing in the unborn child, especially if she is treated before the sixteenth week of pregnancy. The child is at greatest risk of contracting syphilis when the mother is in the early stages of infection, but the disease can be passed at any point during pregnancy, even during delivery (should the child have not contracted it already). However, a woman in the secondary stage of syphilis decreases her child's risk of developing congenital syphilis by 98% if she receives treatment before the last month of pregnancy[1]. An afflicted child can be treated using antibiotics much like an adult, however any developmental symptoms are likely to be permanent.
Scenario 1.
Infants with proven or highly probable disease and an abnormal physical examination that is consistent with congenital syphilis, a serum quantitative nontreponemal serologic titer that is fourfold higher than the mother’s titer,§ or a positive darkfield or fluorescent antibody test of body fluid(s).
Recommended Evaluation
- CSF analysis for VDRL, cell count, and protein
- Complete blood count (CBC) and differential and platelet count
- Other tests as clinically indicated (e.g., long-bone radiographs, chest radiograph, liver-function tests, cranial ultrasound, ophthalmologic examination, and auditory brainstem response)
Recommended Regimens
- Aqueous crystalline penicillin G 100,000–150,000 units/kg/day, administered as 50,000 units/kg/dose IV every 12 hours during the first 7 days of life and every 8 hours thereafter for a total of 10 days
Or
- Procaine penicillin G 50,000 units/kg/dose IM in a single daily dose for 10 days
If >1 day of therapy is missed, the entire course should be restarted. Data are insufficient regarding the use of other antimicrobial agents (e.g., ampicillin). When possible, a full 10-day course of penicillin is preferred, even if ampicillin was initially provided for possible sepsis. The use of agents other than penicillin requires close serologic follow-up to assess adequacy of therapy. In all other situations, the maternal history of infection with T. pallidum and treatment for syphilis must be considered when evaluating and treating the infant.
- The absence of a fourfold or greater titer for an infant does not exclude congenital syphilis.
- CSF test results obtained during the neonatal period can be difficult to interpret; normal values differ by gestational age and are higher in preterm infants. Values as high as 25 white blood cells (WBCs)/mm3 and/or protein of 150 mg/dL might occur among normal neonates; some specialists, however, recommend that lower values (i.e., 5 WBCs/mm3 and protein of 40 mg/dL) be considered the upper limits of normal. Other causes of elevated values should be considered when an infant is being evaluated for congenital syphilis.
Scenario 2
Infants who have a normal physical examination and a serum quantitive nontreponemal serologic titer the same or less than fourfold the maternal titer and the mother was not treated, inadequately treated, or has no documentation of having received treatment; mother was treated with erythromycin or other nonpenicillin regimen;** or mother received treatment <4 weeks before delivery.
Recommended Evaluation
- CSF analysis for VDRL, cell count, and protein
- CBC and differential and platelet count
- Long-bone radiographs
- A complete evaluation is not necessary if 10 days of parenteral therapy is administered. However, such evaluations might be useful; a lumbar puncture might document CSF abnormalities that would prompt close follow-up. Other tests (e.g., CBC, platelet count, and bone radiographs) may be performed to further support a diagnosis of congenital syphilis. If a single dose of benzathine penicillin G is used, then the infant must be fully evaluated (i.e., through CSF examination, long-bone radiographs, and CBC with platelets), the full evaluation must be normal, and follow-up must be certain. If any part of the infant’s evaluation is abnormal or not performed or if the CSF analysis is rendered uninterpretable because of contamination with blood, then a 10-day course of penicillin is required.††
Recommended Regimens
- Aqueous crystalline penicillin G 100,000–150,000 units/kg/day, administered as 50,000 units/kg/dose IV every 12 hours during the first 7 days of life and every 8 hours thereafter for a total of 10 days
OR
- Procaine penicillin G 50,000 units/kg/dose IM in a single daily dose for 10 days
OR
- Benzathine penicillin G 50,000 units/kg/dose IM in a single dose
Some specialists prefer the 10 days of parenteral therapy if the mother has untreated early syphilis at delivery.
- A woman treated with a regimen other than those recommended in these guidelines for treatment should be considered untreated.
- If the infant’s nontreponemal test is nonreactive and the likelihood of the infant being infected is low, certain specialists recommend no evaluation but treatment of the infant with a single IM dose of benzathine penicillin G 50,000 units/kg for possible incubating syphilis, after which the infant should receive close serologic follow-up.
Scenario 3
Infants who have a normal physical examination and a serum quantitative nontreponemal serologic titer the same or less than fourfold the maternal titer and the mother was treated during pregnancy, treatment was appropriate for the stage of infection, and treatment was administered >4 weeks before delivery; and mother has no evidence of reinfection or relapse. Recommended Evaluation No evaluation is required.
Recommended Regimen
- Benzathine penicillin G 50,000 units/kg/dose IM in a single dose§§
§§ Some specialists would not treat the infant but would provide close serologic follow-up in those whose mother’s nontreponemal titers decreased fourfold after appropriate therapy for early syphilis or remained stable or low for late syphilis.
Scenario 4
Infants who have a normal physical examination and a serum quantitative nontreponemal serologic titer the same or less than fourfold the maternal titer and the mother’s treatment was adequate before pregnancy, and mother’s nontreponemal serologic titer remained low and stable before and during pregnancy and at delivery (VDRL <1:2; RPR <1:4).
Recommended Evaluation
No evaluation is required.
Recommended Regimen
No treatment is required; however, some specialists would treat with benzathine penicillin G 50,000 units/kg as a single IM injection, particularly if follow-up is uncertain.
External Links
http://www.cdc.gov/std/treatment/2006/congenital-syphilis.htm