Congenit syphilis in a baby

A pregnant Caucasian woman with newly diagnosed syphilis in the secondary stage was hospitalized for observation while being treated with penicillin. After one dose of penicillin the foetus was delivered by a caesarean section at gestational age 28 weeks + five days due to a reduced blood flow in arteria cerebri media. He was small for gestational age with birth weight 1,320 g. He received intensive care for eight weeks and intravenously administered benzyl penicillin 80.000 IE × 2 in 15 days. At corrected age one year he was developmentally normal. The incidence of syphilis is increasing and this case illustrates that screening and awareness of syphilis in the Western world is important